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⏳ A delay 🐢 To fall behind 🪵 A wooden slat 🧰 To insulate 🪙 To toss 🚔 To imprison
to lag

to lag

24 3.0
To move or develop more slowly than others
  • verb
  • /læɡ/
translation icon : rezagarse
  • If their work lags, it is because they are not fed.
  • lag behind changes
  • lag behind policy
  • lag behind growth

When one of your friends lags behind, screw up.

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Examples

  • For decades we've lagged behind our international peers.

  • During the race, she started to lag behind the other runners as fatigue set in.

  • This explains why sound can lag video by more than it can lead.

    Veritasium

  • For sure its application to other disease is lagging behind that of cancer.

  • However, their guns were lagging behind and without their support.

  • Leadership development is a $50 billion industry, but legal education has lagged behind.

    Academic text (2017)

  • Our social development seems to lag behind our technological prowess.

  • In many ways, the people of Walangama have lagged behind urban areas in these changes.

    Academic text (1992)

  • On the other hand, public infrastructure still lags behind other industrialized countries, even though it is improving.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Their educational achievement lags, consigning a growing majority of the population to the scientific underclass.

    Academic text (1995)

Synonyms

to trail
vsto lag
91 2.2

Move slowly and fall behind others

applies broadly to slower movement or lack of equal progress
to fall behind
vsto lag
70 2.8

To not keep up with others or a schedule

is the general idea of moving or progressing more slowly than others
to get behind
vsto lag
47 3.0

To fail to keep up with work or a schedule

is broader, meaning to move or develop more slowly than others
to dawdle
vsto lag
17 5.0

Move or act slowly and waste time, causing delay

describes general slower progress without implying wasted time
to fall back
vsto lag
8 3.8

To move behind others in speed or progress

is the basic term for moving or progressing more slowly than others
to drop behind
vsto lag
2 3.2

To fall behind others because you move or work more slowly

focuses on slower movement or progress rather than the final position change

Antonyms

to keep up
507 2.8

To continue at the same speed or level as others

to advance
417 3.4

To help something move forward or become better

to accelerate
  • Specialized
331 3.7

To move faster or make something happen faster

Compounds

jet lag
22 2.8

A feeling of tiredness and trouble sleeping after long flights across time zones

time lag
4 4.4

A delay between an event and its effect

lag bolt
  • US
1 6.7

A heavy screw with a large head that joins wood pieces when you turn it with a wrench

Lag b'Omer
9.9

A Jewish holiday on the 33rd day of the Omer that people celebrate with bonfires and picnics

lag screw
  • US
6.8

A large strong screw with a square or six-sided head driven with a wrench into wood to hold heavy things

How Fast

sprint
55 2.1
to run
∞ 1.0
to walk
∞ 1.0
to lag
24 3.0
crawl
23 1.2

Surface Forms

lag infinitive
lagged past
lagged past participle
lagging present participle
lags third person singular

Etymology

Lag (to move more slowly or fall behind) is related to laggard and comes from an old word meaning 'to fall back', so to lag is to be slower than others and drop behind.