lag

«lag» in Mova's school dictionary: to move or develop more slowly than others, so you fall… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (lag, lags, lagged, lagging); noun (a lag, lags; jet lag, time lag; an old lag)

meaning for a pupil

1) To lag, or lag behind, means to move or develop more slowly than others, so you fall behind. tree →

2) A lag, or time lag, is a delay between one thing happening and another. tree →

3) (gaming, computers, informal) Lag is a delay in a game or video call, when the screen freezes or jumps because the internet is slow. tree →

4) Jet lag is feeling tired and muddled after flying across many time zones. tree →

5) To lag pipes or a hot-water tank means to wrap them in material to keep the heat in. tree →

6) (UK, slang) An old lag is a person who has been in prison many times. tree →

sense in the lessons

In PE and stories, someone lags behind on a walk or race. In gaming, «it's lagging» is a common complaint. In science, there is a lag between seeing lightning and hearing thunder because light is faster than sound; in maths, you can use that lag to work out how far away the storm is (about 3 seconds per kilometre). Lagging pipes stops them freezing in winter. Phrases: «lag behind», «jet lag», «time lag», «lag spike».

examples

• Hurry up, don't lag behind! tree →
• The game kept lagging, so I lost the level. tree →
• We had terrible jet lag after flying to Australia. tree →
• There is a lag between the lightning flash and the thunder. tree →
• Dad lagged the pipes in the loft so they wouldn't freeze. tree →
• Our class is lagging behind with the project, so we need to work faster. tree →
• The video call had a two-second lag. tree →
• "Yes, Fred," said she, and soon made herself ready; but, her husband being a good walker, she lagged behind. tree →

note

Verb doubles the g: lagged, lagging. «Lag» as an internet delay is informal but very common. Trap: «laggy» (informal) means slow and jerky; «lagging» can also be the noun for pipe insulation.

In the corpora

• Kai shouted «LAG!» every time he lost, even when the game ran as smooth as butter.
• Then one evening he really did have lag, his character walking into a wall for ten seconds, and nobody believed a word.
• The boy who cried lag.
• Lag is a delay between what you press and what happens in an online game.
• Films, video calls and big downloads on the same connection can cause lag in games.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «lag» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.