Verb

(en verb)

(intransitive) To raise or rise.

The fog eventually lifted , leaving the streets clear.

You never lift a finger to help me!

* 1900 , , The House Behind the Cedars , Chapter I,

Their walk had continued not more than ten minutes when they crossed a creek by a wooden bridge and came to a row of mean houses standing flush with the street. At the door of one, an old black woman had stooped to lift a large basket, piled high with laundered clothes.

*

(slang) To steal.

*

To remove (a ban, restriction, etc.).

To alleviate, to lighten (pressure, tension, stress, etc.)

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=September 24 , author=David Ornstein , title=Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The Gunners boss has been heavily criticised for his side's poor start to the Premier League season but this result helps lift the pressure.}}

to cause to move upwards.

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=October 2 , author=Aled Williams , title=Swansea 2 - 0 Stoke , work=BBC Sport Wales citation , page= , passage=Graham secured victory with five minutes left, coolly lifting the ball over Asmir Begovic.}}

(informal) To lift weights; to weight-lift.

She can lift twice her bodyweight.

To try to raise something; to exert the strength for raising or bearing.

* John Locke

strained by lifting at a weight too heavy

To elevate or improve in rank, condition, etc.; often with up .

* Addison

The Roman virtues lift up mortal man.

* Bible, 1 Timothy iii. 6

being lifted up with pride

(obsolete) To bear; to support.

(Spenser)

To collect, as moneys due; to raise.

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