protract

verb /pɹəˈtɹakt/

1. To draw out; to extend, especially in duration.

   Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech.

   Doubtless he shrives this woman to her smock;

2. To use a protractor.

3. To draw to a scale; to lay down the lines and angles of, with scale and protractor; to plot.

   This is a synopsis of our marches, which, protracted on Burckhardt’s map, gives an error of ten miles.

4. To put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer.

   to protract a decision or duty

Where it comes from

From the past participle stem of Latin prōtrahō. By surface analysis, pro- + tract.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry protract (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← protoseprotreptic →

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