lag

n. 1. One who lags; that which comes in last. [ Obs. ] “The lag of all the flock.” Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The fag-end; the rump; hence, the lowest class. [ 1913 Webster ]

The common lag of people. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The amount of retardation of anything, as of a valve in a steam engine, in opening or closing. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) See Graylag. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. 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. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Came too lag to see him buried. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Last; long-delayed; -- obsolete, except in the phrase lag end. “The lag end of my life.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Last made; hence, made of refuse; inferior. [ Obs. ] “Lag souls.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To transport for crime. [ Slang, Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

She lags us if we poach. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To cause to lag; to slacken. [ Obs. ] “To lag his flight.” Heywood. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mach.) To cover, as the cylinder of a steam engine, with lags. See Lag, n., 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & v. See Ligan. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Alligator. ] An alligator. [ Obs. ] Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. L. Lagenæ E. Lagenas [ L., a flask; cf. Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;. ] (Anat.) The terminal part of the cochlea in birds and most reptiles; an appendage of the sacculus, corresponding to the cochlea, in fishes and amphibians. [ 1913 Webster ]