Sags

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To bend, droop, or hang down under weight or pressure, typically losing firmness or tautness
2. To sink or slump downward because of gravity or weakening support, causing a lowering of position
3. To become less tight or firm and to hang or droop lower than usual, often because of stress or age

Etymology: "Sags" is simply the third-person singular form of the verb "sag," so its story is really the story of "sag." That verb came into English from Scandinavian sources: it is probably related to Old Norse "søkkva," meaning "to sink," and it sits in a family of Germanic words for sinking or falling, including Dutch "zakken," German "sacken," and Swedish "sacka," which means "to lag." The earliest English forms, sag, sagg, and sack, all carried the sense of sinking or settling downward, which is still visible in the modern meaning of drooping under weight or strain. The English word likely arrived through contact with Scandinavian speakers, and its forms shifted over time until "sag" became standard.

Synonyms: droops, hangs, lowers, slumps, declines

Antonyms: rises, lifts, elevates, ascends, soars