Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The act of protracting.
- noun The state of being protracted.
- noun Linguistics The irregular lengthening of a normally short syllable.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act of drawing out or prolonging; the act of delaying: as, the protraction of a debate.
- noun In surveying: The act of plotting or laying down on paper the dimensions of a field, etc.
- noun That which is protracted or plotted on paper.
- noun The action of a protractor in sense .
- noun In ancient prosody, the treatment as metrically long of a syllable usually measured as a short: opposed to correption.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A drawing out, or continuing; the act of delaying the termination of a thing; prolongation; continuance; delay.
- noun The act or process of making a plot on paper.
- noun A plot on paper.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable The condition of being
protracted - noun countable The act of protracting
- noun linguistics The
lengthening of a shortsyllable - noun anatomy An
anterior movement on the horizontal plane; Theforward movement of thetongue or of alimb - noun The act of making a
plot onpaper .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the act of prolonging something
- noun the consequence of being lengthened in duration
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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That today the United States accepts these limitations at risk to its interest means that its enemies benefit from advantages they might not otherwise enjoy, including the deliberate protraction of conflict as well as the expansion of the scope of war well beyond its immediate operational zones to regions that seem to have no direct involvement in the war.
Between War and Peace Col. Matthew Moten 2011
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That today the United States accepts these limitations at risk to its interest means that its enemies benefit from advantages they might not otherwise enjoy, including the deliberate protraction of conflict as well as the expansion of the scope of war well beyond its immediate operational zones to regions that seem to have no direct involvement in the war.
Between War and Peace Col. Matthew Moten 2011
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By the quantity of provision which I had consumed I should guess that I had passed three weeks in this journey; and the continual protraction of hope, returning back upon the heart, often wrung bitter drops of despondency and grief from my eyes.
Chapter 7 2010
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I should guess that I had passed three weeks in this journey; and the continual protraction of hope, returning back upon the heart, often wrung bitter drops of despondency and grief from my eyes.
Chapter 24 2010
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Those require a different kind of change and we have an appetite for neither its protraction nor its privations.
Broken resolutions can be good for you | Hephzibah Anderson 2011
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However, any further protraction in the process raises the bar for a successful outcome.
Deutsche Börse Holders See NYSE Deal Chances Fade Ulrika Dauer 2012
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“We are both convinced,” he wrote, “ … that the only way in which the indefinite protraction of this war can possibly be prevented … is by the secret expenditure of money at the city of Mexico.”
A Country of Vast Designs Robert W. Merry 2009
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“We are both convinced,” he wrote, “ … that the only way in which the indefinite protraction of this war can possibly be prevented … is by the secret expenditure of money at the city of Mexico.”
A Country of Vast Designs Robert W. Merry 2009
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Definitions of labor protraction, arrest challenged.
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Accidental obscurity or dawdling is one thing, sure, but deliberate protraction and orchestrated ambiguity can be choices, no less elegant when carried off with expertise.
Are You Meandering Around a Castle for 200 Pages? Well, Stop That, Suckah! 2009
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