protractive

comparative more protractive · superlative most protractive

1. Drawing out or lengthening in time; prolonging; continuing or delaying.

   He suffered their protractive arts.

   1687, [John Dryden], “(please specify the page number)”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC

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   In this case one half of the group had a contractive distraction imposed (decreasing work time) by a confederate; the other a protractive distraction (increasing work time).

   1970, Managing Human Behavior, page 100

   Such a function could only be used in the protractive approach to evaluate different states of the system , for it does not necessarily specify an established point of convergency .

   1986, August W. Smith, Proceedings of the International Conference on Mental Images, Values, & Reality, page 88

2. human sciencesIndicating an action or state that is ongoing or sustained.

   The protractive, durational, and continuative morphemes are examples of nonpunctual modifications .

   1990, Harry Bornstein, Manual Communication: Implications for Education, page 88

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   One inflected form of the durative verb is made with a long tense hold and without motion; the nuance in meaning is the same as that of the protractive modulation of adjectival predicates and translates as 'to stare at (uninterruptedly)' (figure 12.15b).

   1979, Edward S. Klima, Ursula Bellugi, The Signs of Language, page 292

   Fleischmann (1990:22), Sebastian and Slobin (1994: 257-8) also discuss the classivication of so-called aspectual verbs into inchative verbs (e.g. empezar, to start), protractive verbs ( e.g. , quedarse, to remain), cumulative verbs ( e.g., continuar, to continue) and empletive verbs (e.g. acabar de, to finish)..

   2008, Rafael Salaberry, Marking Past Tense in Second Language Acquisition, page 255

3. biologyExtending forward or projecting outward.

   Axial ribs not strongly protractive.

   1888, Pamphlets on Biology: Kofoid collection - Volume 2788, page 34

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   This keel on the first half of the last whorl consists of oblique, protractive strong short ridges, which on the last half disappear and give place to rough corrugations.

   1943, United States National Museum, Bulletin - Issues 180-181, page 111

   The horizontal component of the resultant muscular force is protractive during the closing stages,

   1993, Belgian Journal of Zoology - Volume 123, page 248