Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To draw out or lengthen in time; prolong: disputants who needlessly protracted the negotiations.
- v. Mathematics To draw to scale by means of a scale and protractor; plot.
- v. Anatomy To extend or protrude (a body part).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To draw out or lengthen in time; prolong: now chiefly in the past participle.
- To lengthen out in space; extend in general.
- To delay; defer; put off to a distant time.
- In surveying, to draw to a scale; lay down, by means of a scale and protractor, the lines and angles of, as a piece of land; plot.
- In anatomy, to draw forward (a part or an organ); extend (a part) anteriorly; have the action or effect of a protractor upon.
- n. A lengthening out; delay; putting off.
Wiktionary
- v. To draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
- v. To use a protractor.
- v. rare To draw or delineate.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To draw out or lengthen in time or (rarely) in space; to continue; to prolong
- v. To put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer.
- v. (Surv.) To draw to a scale; to lay down the lines and angles of, with scale and protractor; to plot.
- v. (Zoöl.) To extend; to protrude; ; -- opposed to
retract . - n. obsolete Tedious continuance or delay.
WordNet 3.0
- v. lengthen in time; cause to be or last longer
Etymologies
- From the past participle stem of Latin prōtrahō. (Wiktionary)
- Latin prōtrahere, prōtract- : prō-, forth; see pro-1 + trahere, to drag. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“With support from Pakistan, the Taliban has managed to protract the fighting and create a strategic deadlock.”
“Both often call for travel and protract beyond a day or two.”
The Huffington Post: Michele Somerville: December Dilemma: Maccabees vs. The Elves
“More to the point, why do YOU want to protract a not particularly pleasant experience?”
“Judging from the tragic footage that has come out of Tahrir Square and Alexandria, and the horror stories leaking out of jail cells, Mr. Mubarak may, in fact, protract his rule for weeks or even months.”
The Wall Street Journal: Mubarak's Interests Are Not America's
“As a result, there is a strong incentive for the less ethically minded lawyer to protract a legal battle by encouraging this tactic.”
“And withdrawing to a designated line would simply embolden the Mexicans to fight on and hence protract the war indefinitely.”
“A more effectual means could not have been devised to encourage the enemy and protract the war than to advocate and adhere to their cause, and thus give them “aid and comfort.””
“For a whole year, Turkey has done everything to protract time and fail the process," said Mr. Sargsyan.”
The Wall Street Journal: Armenia Scraps a Border Deal With Turkey
“Should combat break out in the region, criminal groups, narcotic funded insurgents, and those seeking to profit from a decline in the rule of law will profit -- and those profits may radically protract any conflict.”
The Huffington Post: Jeff Schneider: RED ALERT: Civil War Looms in Burma
“Such a delay, though, could severely strain Iraq's fragile institutions, since it would not only protract the current state of governmental paralysis but might also lead the army and police to question the constitutional authority of their leadership.”
The Huffington Post: Federico Manfredi: Making Sense of Iraq's Political Deadlock
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘protract’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Words
phantasmagoria, eviscerate, avast, simulacrum, varicose, oblique, gestalt, ersatz, vernal, vivace, stellate, synecdoche and 330 more...
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attractive distraction
tract on tract
beguilement, main side show, on tract, appetence, tract, abstract, extract, detract, contract, intractable, protract, subtract and 22 more...
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jan_21
magoosh listens
infuriating, galvanize, sporadic, imperciptible, shirk, protean, versatile, auspicious, clairvoyance, nary, predilection, inkling and 63 more...
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Favorites
disparage, partisan, cupidity, hokum, tussle, odious, dastardly, overture, plane, chronic, peering, peer and 328 more...
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SAT Vocab
Redundant.
problematic, proclivity, prodigal, prodigious, prodigy, profane, profligate, profound, profusion, proliferation, prolific, prologue and 455 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
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GRE 3500 P
paean, pall, palliate, pallid, palpable, palpitate, paltry, pan, panache, panegyric, pantomime, paraphernalia and 93 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 1008 more...
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GRE
trope, surreptitious, tenet, insular, munificent, exegesis, limpid, acerbic, litany, cupidity, restive, protract and 260 more...
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School Words
hagiography, antediluvian, rakish, impeccable, hackneyed, irascible, nascent, teetotaller, suffragette, amiable, expiate, turbulent and 110 more...
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SAT PSAT ALPHABETICAL P
pacifistic, pacify, palatable, palaver, palliate, pallid, palpable, pamper, panacea, pandemic, pandemonium, panegyric and 209 more...
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GRE
high frequent
industrious, feckless, debunk, quintessence, loquacious, obsequious, laconic, plethora, lugubrious, serendipity, facetious, turgid and 261 more...
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TheLastGoodNameLeft
The Last Good Words Left
ephemera, gammon, errata, ellipses, octopi, heteronormative, polyp, intersectionality, theses, california, halfback, fullback and 555 more...
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From Book - SAT & College Dictionary ...
ebb, exotic, immure, abeyance, panegyric, debonair, protege, dissipate, frantic, penitent, abject, edify and 871 more...
Tweets
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