Lag , n. The failing behind or retardation of one phenomenon with respect to another to
which it is
closely related; as, the lag of magnetization compared with the magnetizing force (hysteresis); the lag of the current in an
alternating circuit behind
the impressed electro-motive force which produced it.
Lag , v. t. To transport for crime. [Slang,
Eng.]
She lags us if we poach.
De
Quincey.
Lag , n. One transported for a crime. [Slang,
Eng.]
Lag , v. t. 1. To
cause to lag; to slacken. [Obs.]
"To
lag his flight." Heywood.
2.
(Mach.) To cover, as the cylinder of a
steam engine, with lags. See Lag, n.,
4.
Lag , v. i. [imp. & p. p. Lagged (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Lagging (?).]
To walk or more slowly; to stay or fall behind; to linger or
loiter. "I shall not lag behind."
Milton.
Syn. -- To loiter; linger; saunter; delay; be tardy.
Lag (?), n.
1. One who
lags; that which comes in last. [Obs.]
"The lag of all
the flock." Pope.
2. The fag-end; the rump; hence, the lowest class.
The common lag of people.
Shak.
3. The amount of retardation of anything, as of a valve in a steam engine, in opening or closing.
4. A stave of a cask, drum, etc.; especially (Mach.), one of the narrow boards or staves forming the covering of a cylindrical object, as a boiler, or the cylinder of a carding
machine or a steam engine.
5. (Zoöl.) See Graylag.
Lag
of the tide, the interval by which the time of high
water falls behind the mean time, in the first and third quarters of the moon; -- opposed to priming of the tide, or the acceleration of the time of high water, in the second
and fourth quarters; depending
on the relative positions of the sun and moon. -- Lag screw, an iron bolt with a square
head, a sharp-edged thread, and a sharp point, adapted for screwing into wood; a screw
for fastening
lags.
Lag (?), a. [Of Celtic origin: cf. Gael. & Ir. lagweak, feeble, faint, W. llag, llac,
slack, loose, remiss, sluggish; prob. akin to E. lax, languid.]
1. Coming tardily after or behind; slow; tardy. [Obs.]
Came too lag to see
him buried.
Shak.
2. Last; long-delayed; -- obsolete, except in the
phrase lag end. "The lag end of
my life." Shak.
3. Last made; hence, made of refuse; inferior.
[Obs.] "Lag souls." Dryden.
Hear it pronounced