sag

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

sag, v. i. [Akin to Sw. sacka to settle, sink down, LG. sacken, D. zakken. Cf. Sink, v. i.].

•  To sink, in the middle, by its weight or under applied pressure, below a horizontal line or plane; as, a line or cable supported by its ends sags, though tightly drawn; the floor of a room sags; hence, to lean, give way, or settle from a vertical position; as, a building may sag one way or another; a door sags on its hinges.  [1913 Webster]
•  Fig.: To lose firmness or elasticity; 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.  [1913 Webster]

  "The mind I sway by, and the heart I bear,
  Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear."  [1913 Webster]
•  To loiter in walking; to idle along; to drag or droop heavily.  [1913 Webster]

To sag to leeward (Naut.), to make much leeway by reason of the wind, sea, or current; to drift to leeward; -- said of a vessel. Totten.

sag, v. t. 

 To cause to bend or give way; to load.  [1913 Webster]

sag, n. 

 State of sinking or bending; sagging.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

sag, v. & n.
--v.intr. (sagged, sagging)
1 sink or subside under weight or pressure, esp. unevenly.
2 have a downward bulge or curve in the middle.
3 fall in price.
4 (of a ship) drift from its course, esp. to leeward.
--n.
1 a the amount that a rope etc. sags. b the distance from the middle of its curve to a straight line between its supports.
2 a sinking condition; subsidence.
3 a fall in price.
4 Naut. a tendency to leeward.

Derivative

saggy adj.

Etymology

ME f. MLG sacken, Du. zakken subside

THESAURUS

sag

abate, ablate, arch, bag, basin, bate, be eaten away, bear market, bear off, bearish market, beat down, bend, bend back, bow, break, cadence, cascade, catenary, cave, cave in, cheapen, cheapening, concavity, consume, consume away, corrode, crash, crook, crumble, curl, curve, cut, cut prices, daggle, dangle, decline, declining market, decrease, decurrence, decurve, deflate, deflation, deflect, deliquesce, depend, depreciate, depreciation, devaluate, devaluation, die away, diminish, dip, dive, dome, downslide, downswing, downtrend, downturn, drabble, drag, draggle, drape, drift, drift off course, drive, droop, drop, drop off, dwindle, ebb, embow, erode, fall, fall away, fall down, fall in price, fall off, falloff, fetch away, flag, flap, flex, flop, flop down, flow, flump, flump down, founder, give way, go down, hang, hang down, hollow, hook, hump, hunch, incurvate, incurve, inflect, jew down, languish, lapse, lessen, let up, loop, lop, lower, lowering, make leeway, mark down, markdown, melt away, nod, nose dive, nose-dive, off market, pare, pay off, pend, plop, plop down, plummet, plummeting, plump, plunge, price cut, price fall, price reduction, recurve, reduce, reduction, reflect, reflex, retreating market, retroflex, round, run low, sagging market, set, settle, settle down, settling, shave, shrink, sink, sink down, sinkage, sinkhole, sinking, slash, slide, slip, slouch, slump, slump down, smash, soft market, submerge, submergence, subside, subsidence, swag, sweep, swing, tail off, trail, trim, turn, vault, wane, waste, waste away, wear, wear away, weep, wilt, wind, yaw, yaw off

ROGET THESAURUS

sag

Curvature

VB be curved curve, sweep, sway, swag, sag, deviate, curl, turn, reenter, render curved, flex, bend, curve, incurvate, inflect, deflect, scatter, refract (light), crook, turn, round, arch, arcuate, arch over, concamerate, bow, curl, recurve, frizzle, rotundity, convexity.