the act of slowing down or falling behind
"The runners began to lag in the final miles as their legs grew heavy and they fell further behind the pack."
A gap, a delay; an interval created by something not keeping up; a latency.
"The video game began to lag when my internet connection dropped, causing noticeable delays between my actions and the on-screen response."
In plain English: Lag is when something happens later than it should because of a delay.
"The video game froze because there was too much lag in my internet connection."
Usage: Use the noun lag to describe any noticeable delay or time gap between two events. As a verb, it specifically means failing to match the speed of others rather than simply moving slowly on its own.
hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.
"The new software update lagged behind the original version during the initial rollout phase."
lock up or confine, in or as in a jail
"The suspects were imprisoned without trial"
"the murderer was incarcerated for the rest of his life"
throw or pitch at a mark, as with coins
"The gamblers took turns lagging their silver dollars across the table to see who could get closest to the center of the chip stack."
to fail to keep up (the pace), to fall behind
"The slow internet connection caused the video game characters to lag, making them unable to react quickly enough during the match."
In plain English: To lag means to move, act, or develop more slowly than others while they keep up with something faster.
"The computer started to lag when I opened too many programs at once."
late
"The poker player was known as a lag because he frequently raised with very weak hands."
Loose (inclined to play many starting hands, including weak ones) and aggressive (inclined to raise often).
In plain English: Lag means being behind schedule or slower than expected when you should be moving faster.
"The old computer was running on lag software that made everything slow."
The word lag is believed to have come from a language spoken by people living north of the Baltic Sea, though its exact roots remain unclear. It entered English with no single known original meaning that can be definitively traced back to this uncertain source.