LAG | Meaning In The Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of lag in English lagverb uk /læɡ/ us /læɡ/ -gg-

lag verb (MOVE/REACT SLOWLY)

Add to word list Add to word list [ I ] to move or make progress so slowly that you are behind other people or things: lag behind He's lagging behind - I think we'd better wait for him to catch us up. Sales are lagging at the moment. [ I ] If a computer or computer game lags, there is a delay between the user doing something and the computer or game reacting to it: If I try to access any of the folders or files, the computer lags seriously. Why are the games on my laptop suddenly lagging when they ran fine before? Slow and moving slowly

• (as) slow as molasses idiom
• at a snail's pace idiom
• by and by idiom
• by degrees idiom
• claw your way (somewhere) idiom
• crawl
• float
• hang around phrasal verb
• in ones and twos idiom
• inch by inch idiom
• infiltrate
• infiltration
• jog
• labour
• sluggish
• sluggishly
• sluggishness
• snail
• staged
• wander

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Delaying and wasting time

lag verb (COVER)

[ T ] UK to cover something with a thick layer of material in order to stop heat from escaping or to stop water from freezing: to lag pipes Covering and adding layers

• additive
• asphalt
• bestrew
• bind
• blanket
• blindfold
• fall over phrasal verb
• film
• film over phrasal verb
• gum
• gum something up phrasal verb
• inlaid
• retread
• seasoned
• slap
• slap something on phrasal verb
• smother something in/with something phrasal verb
• spackle
• tent
• wax

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Building: construction work & workers

lag verb (PRISON)

[ T ] Australian English informal to send someone to prison or to arrest someone Putting people in prison

• at His/Her Majesty's pleasure idiom
• bang
• bang someone up phrasal verb
• bar
• behind bars idiom
• bird
• imprison
• imprisonment
• in custody
• incarcerate
• incarceration
• intern
• lock
• pen
• restraint
• rot
• rot in jail, prison, etc. idiom
• self-surrender
• send
• stretch

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Arresting & charging

lag verb (GOLF)

[ I or T ] to hit a golf ball gently a long distance across short grass, aiming for it to stop near the hole: lag up to She lagged up to the hole from between 30 and 50 feet.lag something to something He lagged his putt to within about two feet of the 17th hole.lag something up to something He only intended to lag the putt up close to the hole.

• In the end, he was able to lag the ball up to the hole.
• She lagged her eagle putt to within 18 inches and then tapped in for the victory.

Golf

• approach shot
• best ball
• better ball
• bogie
• caddy
• chip
• golfer
• golfing
• green fees
• greenkeeper
• greenside
• lay
• rough
• tap
• tee
• tee (something) up phrasal verb
• three-ball
• threesome
• triple bogey
• waggle

See more results » lagnoun uk /læɡ/ us /læɡ/

lag noun (DELAY)

[ C ] a delay between two things happening: lag between You have to allow for a time lag between order and delivery. [ C or U ] a delay between a user performing an action on a computer or computer game, and the computer or game reacting: Gamers know the slightest lag between a mouse's movements and the action on the PC screen can have serious consequences. You can optimize your internet connection so you can play online games with less lag. Delaying and wasting time

• ado
• busywork
• buy time idiom
• carry something over phrasal verb
• dally
• gridlock
• hold up phrasal verb
• inefficiency
• inefficiently
• kept
• kick
• push
• retard
• retardation
• set someone back (something) phrasal verb
• shelve
• sit
• sit on something phrasal verb
• spin
• stall

See more results »

lag noun (PRISONER)

[ C ] UK old-fashioned informal a prisoner or a person who has often been a prisoner in the past: old lag He tried to gain the trust of both young offenders and old lags. People held in prison

• captive
• cellmate
• co-prisoner
• con
• convict
• dead
• dead man walking idiom
• detainee
• detenu
• gaolbird
• hostage
• inmate
• internee
• jailbird
• lifer
• political prisoner
• pow
• prisoner
• prisoner of conscience
• prisoner of war

(Definition of lag from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

lag | American Dictionary

lagverb [ I ] us /læɡ/ -gg- Add to word list Add to word list to move or advance so slowly that you are behind other people or things: John’s always lagging behind the others in the class. lagnoun [ C/U ] us /læɡ/ a delay in the period of time in which events happen: [ C ] There is often a lag between becoming infected and the first signs of the illness. (Definition of lag from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

lag | Business English

lagverb uk /læɡ/ us -gg- Add to word list Add to word list [ I or T ] to not make as much progress as other people or things: lag behind sb/sth Business leaders in the UK still lag behind their European counterparts in foreign language skills.lag well/far behind As usual we lag far behind the rest of the world in this matter. They continue to lag their competitors in most areas of the business. [ I ] to move or make progress more slowly than usual, or to change later than something else changes: Business had improved considerably after lagging last year. There has been an upturn in business travel, but hotel prices are still lagging. lagnoun [ C ] uk /læɡ/ us a delay between two things happening: This can mean a lag during construction projects. Sometimes there would be long lag times between responses.

See also

time lag (Definition of lag from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of lag

lag Thus, the re-polarization of congressional elections lagged behind the polarization of national presidential politics. From the Cambridge English Corpus This time is determined as the cycle at which the number of parasites exceeds the antibody trigger level plus a specified lag time. From the Cambridge English Corpus A potentially more serious problem is that changes in perceptions of corruption may lag reality, if they have anything to do with reality at all. From the Cambridge English Corpus When the lag is three years, it remains on the edge of statistical significance (p 0.053). From the Cambridge English Corpus Consistent with our conjecture, the second lag comes in significantly. From the Cambridge English Corpus Adding more lags would reduce the power of the test significantly. From the Cambridge English Corpus One simply has to add a model containing both lagged output and lagged inflation to the two models considered thus far. From the Cambridge English Corpus All of the children who developed psychiatric conditions had developmental lags of motor function and what she called poor integration of visual - proprioceptive stimuli. From the Cambridge English Corpus Despite recent large increases in the number of organs transplanted from living donors, especially from genetically unrelated volunteers, supply continues to lag far behind demand. From the Cambridge English Corpus This conclusion is reinforced by the finding that lagged employment exerts a negative difference on current wages. From the Cambridge English Corpus Generally, the suggested lag order is two years, although in some cases it extended to three years. From the Cambridge English Corpus Since television coverage is of today's events, no lag structure is introduced for its interaction terms. From the Cambridge English Corpus A plausible hypothesis is that tax compliance lagged, by many years, behind the effect of the administrative tax reforms. From the Cambridge English Corpus The curses and insults uttered by the audience whenever this actor appeared were thus directed against the f lag. From the Cambridge English Corpus This is typical of forest resources, where there is a long lag between regeneration and maturity. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of lag These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of lag?

Translations of lag

in Chinese (Traditional) 緩慢移動, 掉隊，滯後, 覆蓋… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 缓慢移动, 掉队，滞后, 覆盖… See more in Spanish quedarse atrás, retraso, intervalo… See more in Portuguese ficar para trás, atraso, intervalo… See more in Turkish in Dutch in Czech in Danish in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Swedish in Malay in German in Ukrainian in Russian (iki şey arasındaki) zaman aralığı, geri kalmak, fark… See more achterblijven, vertraging… See more loudat se vzadu, opoždění, interval… See more komme bagefter, sakke bagud, forsinkelse… See more tertinggal, keterlambatan… See more ล่าช้า… See more tụt lại sau, sự trễ… See more opóźnienie, wlec się, odstawać… See more bli (komma, ligga, sacka) efter… See more bergerak perlahan, sela masa… See more zurückbleiben, die Verzögerung… See more відставати, плентатися, відставання… See more промежуток времени… See more Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool

Browse

ladybug ladyfinger ladylike ladyship lag lagan lager lager lout lagered-up {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of lag

• jet lag
• time lag

See all meanings

Word of the Day

box someone in

UK /bɒks/ US /bɑːks/

to move so close to someone or something that the person or thing cannot move away

About this

Blog

It’s written in the stars: talking about things that might happen in the future

December 18, 2024 Read More

New Words

healthwashing December 23, 2024 More new words has been added to list To top Contents EnglishAmericanBusinessExamplesTranslations {{#displayLoginPopup}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content: Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans Sign up now or Log in Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Create word lists and quizzes for free Sign up now or Log in {{/displayLoginPopup}} {{#displayClassicSurvey}} {{/displayClassicSurvey}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

Dictionary Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Translations Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Danish English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese Translate Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Shop {{userName}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

Log in / Sign up English (UK) Change English (UK) English (US) Español Русский Português Deutsch Français Italiano 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Polski 한국어 Türkçe 日本語 Tiếng Việt Nederlands Svenska Dansk Norsk हिंदी বাঙ্গালি मराठी ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు Українська Follow us Choose a dictionary

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• Translation Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries
  • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
  • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
  • English–Dutch Dutch–English
  • English–French French–English
  • English–German German–English
  • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
  • English–Italian Italian–English
  • English–Japanese Japanese–English
  • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
  • English–Polish Polish–English
  • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
  • English–Spanish Spanish–English
  • English–Swedish Swedish–English
  Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Danish English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists

Choose your language English (UK) English (US) Español Русский Português Deutsch Français Italiano 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Polski 한국어 Türkçe 日本語 Tiếng Việt Nederlands Svenska Dansk Norsk हिंदी বাঙ্গালি मराठी ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు Українська Contents

• English   
  • Verb 
    • lag (MOVE/REACT SLOWLY)
    • lag (COVER)
    • lag (PRISON)
    • lag (GOLF)
  • Noun 
    • lag (DELAY)
    • lag (PRISONER)
• American   VerbNoun
• Business   VerbNoun
• Examples

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

My word lists

To add lag to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in My word lists

Add lag to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{name}} More Go to your word lists {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} Tell us about this example sentence: The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}}