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Drain vs Drag - What's the difference?

drain | drag | Synonyms |

In intransitive terms the difference between drain and drag

is that drain is to flow gradually while drag is to move slowly.

In transitive terms the difference between drain and drag

is that drain is to draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust while drag is to pull along a surface or through a medium, sometimes with difficulty.

drain

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, volume=101, issue=2, page=114, magazine=(American Scientist)
    • , author=Frank Fish, George Lauder , title= Not Just Going with the Flow , passage=An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex . The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain , as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.}}
  • An access point or conduit for rainwater that drains directly downstream in a (drainage) basin without going through sewers or water treatment in order to prevent or belay floods.
  • Something consuming resources and providing nothing in return.
  • (label) An act of urination.
  • (label) The name of one terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).

    • Derived terms

    * circle the drain * down the drain * drain fly

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To lose liquid.
    • The clogged sink drained slowly.
  • To flow gradually.
    • The water of low ground drains off.
  • (ergative) To cause liquid to flow out of.
    • Please drain the sink. It's full of dirty water.
  • (ergative) To convert a perennially wet place into a dry one.
    • They had to drain the swampy land before the parking lot could be built.
  • To deplete of energy or resources.
    • The stress of this job is really draining me.
  • To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • Fountains drain the water from the ground adjacent.
  • * Motley
    • But it was not alone that he drained their treasure and hampered their industry.
  • (obsolete) To filter.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • Salt water, drained through twenty vessels of earth, hath become fresh.
  • (pinball) To fall off the bottom of the playfield.
  • * 1990 , Steven A. Schwartz, Compute's Nintendo Secrets
    • When a ball finally drains , it's gulped down by a giant gator beneath the set of flippers.

    Derived terms

    * drainage * drain the lizard (vulgar)

    Anagrams

    *

    drag

    English

    (wikipedia drag)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) . More at (l).

    Verb

  • To pull along a surface or through a medium, sometimes with difficulty.
  • To move slowly.
  • To act or proceed slowly or without enthusiasm; to be reluctant.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= James R. Carter
    • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Flowers and Ribbons of Ice , passage=Dragging yourself out of a warm bed in the early hours of a wintry morning to go for a hike in the woods: It’s not an easy thing for some to do, but the visual treasures that await could be well worth the effort. If the weather conditions and the local flora are just right, you might come across fleeting, delicate frozen formations sprouting from certain plant stems, literally a garden of ice.}}
  • To move onward heavily, laboriously, or slowly; to advance with weary effort; to go on lingeringly.
  • * Byron
    • The day drags through, though storms keep out the sun.
  • * Gay
    • Long, open panegyric drags at best.
  • To draw along (something burdensome); hence, to pass in pain or with difficulty.
  • * Dryden
    • have dragged a lingering life
  • To serve as a clog or hindrance; to hold back.
  • * Russell
    • A propeller is said to drag when the sails urge the vessel faster than the revolutions of the screw can propel her.
  • (computing) To move (an item) on the computer display by means of a mouse or other input device.
  • To inadvertently rub or scrape on a surface.
  • To perform as a drag queen or drag king.
  • (soccer) To hit or kick off target.
  • * November 17 2012 , BBC Sport: Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham [http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20278355]
    • Arsenal were struggling for any sort of rhythm and Aaron Lennon dragged an effort inches wide as Tottenham pressed for a second.
  • To fish with a dragnet.
  • To break (land) by drawing a drag or harrow over it; to harrow.
  • (figurative) To search exhaustively, as if with a dragnet.
  • * Tennyson
    • while I dragged my brains for such a song
    Derived terms
    * drag one's feet * dragline * what the cat dragged in
    Related terms
    * dragnet

    Noun

  • (uncountable) Resistance of the air (or some other fluid) to something moving through it.
    • When designing cars, manufacturers have to take drag into consideration.
  • (countable, foundry) The bottom part of a sand casting mold.
  • (countable) A device dragged along the bottom of a body of water in search of something, e.g. a dead body, or in fishing.
  • (countable, informal) A puff on a cigarette or joint.
  • (countable, slang) Someone or something that is annoying or frustrating; an obstacle to progress or enjoyment.
    • Travelling to work in the rush hour is a real drag .
  • * J. D. Forbes
    • My lectures were only a pleasure to me, and no drag .
  • (countable, slang) Someone or something that is disappointing.
  • (countable, slang) Horse-drawn wagon or buggy.
    • (Thackeray)
  • (countable, slang) Street, as in 'main drag'.
  • (countable) The scent-path left by dragging a fox, for training hounds to follow scents.
    • to run a drag
  • (countable, snooker) A large amount of backspin on the cue ball, causing the cue ball to slow down.
  • A heavy harrow for breaking up ground.
  • A kind of sledge for conveying heavy objects; also, a kind of low car or handcart.
    • a stone drag
  • (metallurgy) The bottom part of a flask or mould, the upper part being the cope.
  • (masonry) A steel instrument for completing the dressing of soft stone.
  • (nautical) The difference between the speed of a screw steamer under sail and that of the screw when the ship outruns the screw; or between the propulsive effects of the different floats of a paddle wheel.
  • Anything towed in the water to retard a ship's progress, or to keep her head up to the wind; especially, a canvas bag with a hooped mouth (drag sail), so used.
  • A skid or shoe for retarding the motion of a carriage wheel.
  • Motion affected with slowness and difficulty, as if clogged.
  • * Hazlitt
    • Had a drag in his walk.
    Derived terms
    * drag race * main drag

    Etymology 2

    Possibly from (etyl) Douglas Harper, "camp (n.)" in Online Etymology Dictionary , 2001ff

    Noun

    (-)
  • (uncountable, slang) Women's clothing worn by men for the purpose of entertainment.
    • He performed in drag .
  • (uncountable, slang) Any type of clothing or costume associated with a particular occupation or subculture.
    • corporate drag
    Derived terms
    * drag king * drag queen * drag show

    References

    * Flight, 1913, p. 126] attributing to [[w:Archibald Low, Archibald Low] *

    Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs English irregular verbs ----