"drag one's feet" meaning in English

See drag one's feet in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: en-au-drag one's feet.ogg Forms: drags one's feet [present, singular, third-person], dragging one's feet [participle, present], dragged one's feet [participle, past], dragged one's feet [past]
Etymology: From the idea of walking while dragging one's feet along the ground, either from lack of enthusiasm or to intentionally slow down movement. Compare dig in one's heels (“firmly oppose”). Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} drag one's feet (third-person singular simple present drags one's feet, present participle dragging one's feet, simple past and past participle dragged one's feet)
  1. (idiomatic) To procrastinate, put off; to dawdle, avoid, or make progress slowly and reluctantly. Tags: idiomatic Translations (procrastinate): hidastella (Finnish), traîner les pieds (French), herumtrödeln (German), húzza az időt (Hungarian), kähnätä (Ingrian), tirarla per le lunghe (Italian), волочи́ть но́ги (voločítʹ nógi) [imperfective] (Russian), тяну́ть рези́ну (tjanútʹ rezínu) [imperfective] (Russian), тяну́ть волы́нку (tjanútʹ volýnku) [imperfective] (Russian), marear la perdiz (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-drag_one's_feet-en-verb-T4Oybtp7 Disambiguation of 'procrastinate': 76 24
  2. (idiomatic) To intentionally stall, to delay, to obstruct. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: slow-walk, dilly-dally Derived forms: foot-dragging Related terms: delaying tactic, dig in one's heels, long finger [Ireland, idiomatic]
    Sense id: en-drag_one's_feet-en-verb-LQLJQlDU Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Ingrian translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 17 83 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 19 81 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 21 79 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 14 86 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 27 73 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 23 77 Disambiguation of Terms with Ingrian translations: 21 79 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 18 82 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 18 82 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 19 81

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From the idea of walking while dragging one's feet along the ground, either from lack of enthusiasm or to intentionally slow down movement. Compare dig in one's heels (“firmly oppose”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "drags one's feet",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dragging one's feet",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dragged one's feet",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dragged one's feet",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "drag one's feet (third-person singular simple present drags one's feet, present participle dragging one's feet, simple past and past participle dragged one's feet)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I have been dragging my feet about filing my taxes.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 December 27, Alexi Duggins, Hollie Richardson, Kate Abbott, “The Rings of Power to Conversations With Friends: 2022’s TV letdowns”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "There was much to love about this last season, from the tense opening barfight to the finale shootout with the IRA, which was so disorientingly murky and gas-filled it felt otherworldly. But it struggled to ever quite get going, with the first five episodes dragging their feet in a way that began to frustrate.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To procrastinate, put off; to dawdle, avoid, or make progress slowly and reluctantly."
      ],
      "id": "en-drag_one's_feet-en-verb-T4Oybtp7",
      "links": [
        [
          "procrastinate",
          "procrastinate"
        ],
        [
          "put off",
          "put off"
        ],
        [
          "dawdle",
          "dawdle"
        ],
        [
          "avoid",
          "avoid"
        ],
        [
          "reluctant",
          "reluctant"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To procrastinate, put off; to dawdle, avoid, or make progress slowly and reluctantly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "procrastinate",
          "word": "hidastella"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "procrastinate",
          "word": "traîner les pieds"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "procrastinate",
          "word": "herumtrödeln"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "procrastinate",
          "word": "húzza az időt"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "izh",
          "lang": "Ingrian",
          "sense": "procrastinate",
          "word": "kähnätä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "procrastinate",
          "word": "tirarla per le lunghe"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "voločítʹ nógi",
          "sense": "procrastinate",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "волочи́ть но́ги"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "tjanútʹ rezínu",
          "sense": "procrastinate",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "тяну́ть рези́ну"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "tjanútʹ volýnku",
          "sense": "procrastinate",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "тяну́ть волы́нку"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "procrastinate",
          "word": "marear la perdiz"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "17 83",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 79",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 75",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "27 73",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 75",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "23 77",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 79",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Ingrian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 82",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 82",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "23 77",
          "word": "foot-dragging"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To intentionally stall, to delay, to obstruct."
      ],
      "id": "en-drag_one's_feet-en-verb-LQLJQlDU",
      "links": [
        [
          "stall",
          "stall"
        ],
        [
          "delay",
          "delay"
        ],
        [
          "obstruct",
          "obstruct"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To intentionally stall, to delay, to obstruct."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "15 85",
          "word": "delaying tactic"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "15 85",
          "word": "dig in one's heels"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "15 85",
          "tags": [
            "Ireland",
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "long finger"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "slow-walk"
        },
        {
          "word": "dilly-dally"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-drag one's feet.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/27/En-au-drag_one%27s_feet.ogg/En-au-drag_one%27s_feet.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/En-au-drag_one%27s_feet.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "drag one's feet"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Ingrian translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "foot-dragging"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the idea of walking while dragging one's feet along the ground, either from lack of enthusiasm or to intentionally slow down movement. Compare dig in one's heels (“firmly oppose”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "drags one's feet",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dragging one's feet",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dragged one's feet",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dragged one's feet",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "drag one's feet (third-person singular simple present drags one's feet, present participle dragging one's feet, simple past and past participle dragged one's feet)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "delaying tactic"
    },
    {
      "word": "dig in one's heels"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "Ireland",
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "word": "long finger"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I have been dragging my feet about filing my taxes.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 December 27, Alexi Duggins, Hollie Richardson, Kate Abbott, “The Rings of Power to Conversations With Friends: 2022’s TV letdowns”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "There was much to love about this last season, from the tense opening barfight to the finale shootout with the IRA, which was so disorientingly murky and gas-filled it felt otherworldly. But it struggled to ever quite get going, with the first five episodes dragging their feet in a way that began to frustrate.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To procrastinate, put off; to dawdle, avoid, or make progress slowly and reluctantly."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "procrastinate",
          "procrastinate"
        ],
        [
          "put off",
          "put off"
        ],
        [
          "dawdle",
          "dawdle"
        ],
        [
          "avoid",
          "avoid"
        ],
        [
          "reluctant",
          "reluctant"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To procrastinate, put off; to dawdle, avoid, or make progress slowly and reluctantly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To intentionally stall, to delay, to obstruct."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "stall",
          "stall"
        ],
        [
          "delay",
          "delay"
        ],
        [
          "obstruct",
          "obstruct"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To intentionally stall, to delay, to obstruct."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "slow-walk"
        },
        {
          "word": "dilly-dally"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-drag one's feet.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/27/En-au-drag_one%27s_feet.ogg/En-au-drag_one%27s_feet.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/En-au-drag_one%27s_feet.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "procrastinate",
      "word": "hidastella"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "procrastinate",
      "word": "traîner les pieds"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "procrastinate",
      "word": "herumtrödeln"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "procrastinate",
      "word": "húzza az időt"
    },
    {
      "code": "izh",
      "lang": "Ingrian",
      "sense": "procrastinate",
      "word": "kähnätä"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "procrastinate",
      "word": "tirarla per le lunghe"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "voločítʹ nógi",
      "sense": "procrastinate",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "волочи́ть но́ги"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "tjanútʹ rezínu",
      "sense": "procrastinate",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "тяну́ть рези́ну"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "tjanútʹ volýnku",
      "sense": "procrastinate",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "тяну́ть волы́нку"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "procrastinate",
      "word": "marear la perdiz"
    }
  ],
  "word": "drag one's feet"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.