sag
verbEtymology
From earlier sag, sagg, sack, from Middle English saggen, probably from Middle Low German sacken (“to sink, drift”), ultimately of North Germanic/Scandinavian/Old Norse origin, akin to Old Norse søkkva (“to sink”), from a denasalized derivative of Proto-Germanic *sinkwaną (“to sink”). Cognate with Scots seg (“to sink”), Danish sakke (“to lag behind”), Swedish sacka (“to lag”), Icelandic sakka (“to sink”), Faroese søkka (“to sink, drop down, descend, set”), Dutch zakken (“to fall, drop, sink”), German Low German sacken (“to sink”), and German sacken (“to sink”) (from Low German). Compare also Norwegian Nynorsk sagga (“to walk or move heavily and slowly”).
7 senses
- 1To sink, in the middle, by its weight or under applied…
- 2To lean, give way, or settle from a vertical position.
- 3To lose firmness, elasticity, vigor, or a thriving…
- 4To loiter in walking; to idle along; to drag or droop heavily.
- 5To cause to bend or give way; to load.
- 6To wear one's trousers so that their top is well below the waist.
- 7To pull down someone else's pants as a prank.
To sink, in the middle, by its weight or under applied pressure, below a horizontal line or plane.
- A line or cable supported by its ends sags, even if it is tightly drawn.
- The floor of a room sags.
1 more example
- Her once firm bosom began to sag in her thirties.
Broadly To lean, give way, or settle from a vertical position.
- A building may sag one way or another.
- The door sags on its hinges.
1 more example
- The weather became more and more threatening; the ship sagged to the leeward more than she ought.1890, Great Britain. High Court of Justice. Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division, The Law Reports. Probate Division in the Courts of Probate and Divorce: In the Admiralty and Ecclesiastical Courts, and in the Privy Council, from Michaelmas Sittings, 1875, to 1890 (volume 5)
Figuratively To lose firmness, elasticity, vigor, or a thriving state; to sink; to droop; to flag; to bend; to yield, as the mind or spirits, under the pressure of care, trouble, doubt, or the like; to be unsettled or unbalanced.
- The mind I sway by, and the heart I bear, / Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
To loiter in walking; to idle along; to drag or droop heavily.
To cause to bend or give way; to load.
Informal To wear one's trousers so that their top is well below the waist.