drag one's feet
verb
Forms drags one's feet dragging one's feet dragged one's feet
- verb (idiomatic) To procrastinate, put off; to dawdle, avoid, or make progress slowly and reluctantly. “I have been dragging my feet about filing my taxes.”
- verb (idiomatic) To intentionally stall, to delay, to obstruct.
Synonyms
drag one's heels slow-walk dilly-dally procrastinate stall shillyshally dillydally
Etymology
From the idea of walking while dragging one's feet along the ground, either from lack of enthusiasm or to intentionally slow down movement. Compare dig in one's heels (“firmly oppose”).
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “drag one's feet”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details