protract

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UK/pɹəˈtɹakt/Canada, US/pɹoʊˈtɹækt/Canada, US/pɹəˈtɹækt/

verb

To draw out; to extend, especially in duration.

“to protract a decision or duty”

Similar
prolongextenddraw outcarry
OriginLatin prōtrahō →
RareScrabble 12
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Meanings

verbprotract (third-person singular simple present protracts, present participle protracting, simple past and past participle protracted)

present singular third person protracts · participle present protracting · participle past protracted · past protracted

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

    1755, Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, London: J. and P. Knapton et al., Volume 1, Preface, I have protracted my work till most of those whom I wished to please, have sunk into the grave […]

    4 more examples

    Doubtless he shrives this woman to her smock; Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech.

    1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]

    I should wish now to protract this moment ad infinitum; but I dare not.

    1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter IV, in Jane Eyre. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 102

    A bereft landscape of sad browns and sepias of winter lay all about us, the marshland drearily protracting itself towards the wide river.

    1979, Angela Carter, “The Tiger’s Bride”, in Burning Your Boats: The Collected Short Stories, New York: Henry Holt, published 1996, page 165

    Still, from these extraordinary pages you can learn that it's very bad to be burned alive on a windy day, because the breeze will keep flicking the flames away from you and thus protract the process.

    2010 Mar, Christopher Hitchens, “The Men Who Made England”, in The Atlantic

    Synonyms: prolong

  2. To use a protractor.
  3. geographyTo 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.

    1856, Richard Francis Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah, London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, Volume 3, Chapter 25, page 147, footnote
  4. To put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer.

    to protract a decision or duty

    4 more examples

    […] Let us bury him, And not protract with admiration what Is now due debt. To the grave!

    1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]

    Then, since I’m sure to meet my Fate, How vain would Hope appear? Since Fear cannot protract the Date, How foolish ’twere to fear?

    1736, Stephen Duck, “To Death”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: for the author, page 146

    Both hoped to protract the discovery of what had happened—the mother, by interposing her bustling person betwixt Mr. Girder and the fire, and the daughter, by the extreme cordiality with which she received the minister and her husband […]

    1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume I (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC

    Of course he was in danger of almost immediate detection and punishment. He hardly hoped that the evil day would be very much longer protracted, and yet he enjoyed his triumph.

    1873 May 1 – December 22 (date written), Anthony Trollope, chapter 64, in The Way We Live Now. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published June 1875, →OCLC
  5. To extend; to protrude.

    A cat can protract and retract its claws.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.

Similar
prolong

More synonyms by meaning

verblengthen in time; cause to be or last longer

Similar
prolongextenddraw outcarry
Broader
lengthen
Also see
carrydraw outelongateenlengthenextendkick the can down the roadlengthenprocrastinateprolongprorogueroll backtarry

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinprōtrahō
  2. Englishprotract

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

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian удължавам, начертавам
  • удължавам (udălžavam)To draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • начертавам (načertavam)To draw or delineate.
  • отлагам (otlagam)to put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer
  • протакам (protakam)to put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer
Danish udskyde
  • udskydeto put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer
Dutch verlengen, aanhouden
  • verlengenTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • aanhoudenTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • rekkenTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • schetsenTo draw or delineate.
  • afbakenenTo draw or delineate.
  • op schaal tekenenTo use a protractor.
  • uitstellento put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer
Finnish pitkittää
  • pitkittääTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
French prolonger, tirer en longueur
  • prolongerTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • tirer en longueurTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
German verlängern, sich ziehen
  • verlängernTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • sich ziehenTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • sich hinziehenTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • in die Länge ziehenTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • überziehenTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • verschiebento put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer
  • ausfahrento extend; to protrude
  • verlängernto extend; to protrude
Italian protrarre
  • protrarreTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
Māori autō, aukume
  • autōTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • aukumeTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • whakaupaTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
Portuguese prolongar
  • prolongarTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
Spanish prolongar, protraer
  • prolongarTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • protraerTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
  • diferirto put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer
  • extenderto extend; to protrude
Cite this entry
APA

protract. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protract

MLA

“protract.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protract. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “protract,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protract.

Source: protract on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.