drag out

phrasal verb

dragged out; dragging out; drags out

: to cause (something) to take more time than necessary

He dragged out the speech much too long.

: to force (something, such as a confession) from (someone) : to make (someone) tell one (something)

The teacher eventually dragged a confession out of one of the students.

Doctors sometimes have to drag information out of their patients.

Examples of drag out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

With an unforgivable 131-minute running time, The Kissing Booth 2 drags out Elle’s meaningless temptation by hot new transfer student Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez), who serenades her on the beach by apparently pulling a guitar out of thin air. —

Josh Bell, Vulture, 27 Dec. 2024 Republicans dragged out the record session by requesting that many bills be read in their entirety, as a way of expressing their frustration at a lack of committee hearings and other debate. —

Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, 20 Dec. 2024 The whole situation has already left NASCAR looking as sharp as a wrecked car dragged out of the Talladega infield. —

Greg Engle, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024 Still, Republicans have worked to hold up and drag out the process, with just weeks to go in the minority. —

Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 3 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for drag out