How to use protract in a sentence
25 example sentences · verb
Protract means to draw out; to extend, especially in duration. Example: “A cat can protract and retract its claws.”
Examples of protract by meaning
verbTo draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
- 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
verbTo put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer.
- to protract a decision or duty
verbTo extend; to protrude.
- A cat can protract and retract its claws.
More sentences with protract
- The constitutional development that followed the Magna Carta was a protracted process with many reversals.2020, Karolina M. Milewicz, Constitutionalizing World Politics: The Logic of Democratic Power and the Unintended Consequences of…. From the entry Carta
- No more protracted sniff tests, no more playing my cards close to the table.2001 February, Melinda Marshall, “You Gotta Have Friends”, in Myrna Blyth, editor, Ladies’ Home Journal, New York, N.Y.: Meredith…. From the entry sniff test
- Supracutaneous ophthalmic drug delivery is a simple, effective method of protracted ocular drug delivery.1998, David A. Sullivan • Darlene A. Dartt • Michele A. Meneray, Lacrimal Gland, Tear Film, and Dry Eye Syndromes - Basic Science and…. From the entry supracutaneous
- Thoughout Arguments within English Marxism Thompson is offered protracted grandsonly instruction in the techniques of egg-sucking.1980, New Society, page 236. From the entry grandsonly
- Even in literature "our flying minds," as George Meredith says, cannot contain protracted description.1931, Martha Kinross, “The Screen — From This Side”, in The Fortnightly, volume 130, page 511. From the entry fleeting
- Our release from this earthly tent is but the crisic consummation of the protracted working of death.1928, Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man. From the entry crisic
- All this means that quantum-proofing the internet is shaping up to be an expensive, protracted and probably incomplete job.2019 October 20, “Quantum computers will break the encryption that protects the internet”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group…. From the entry quantum-proof
- Now, after a protracted civil war and the establishment of multiparty democracy, the mapiko tradition is thriving in freestyle mode.2007 November 2, Holland Cotter, “Art in Review”, in New York Times. From the entry mapiko
- Goguryeo's General Euljimundeok allowed the Sui army to approach Pyeong'yang, but launched a protracted war of defending the castle.2006 [2003], Jae-eun Kang, “Confucianism in the Three Kingdoms Period”, in Suzanne Lee, transl., The Land of Scholars: Two Thousand Years…. From the entry Qingchuan
- Ethnic protracted conflicts are no more likely than ethnic nonprotracted conflicts or nonethnic conflicts to be triggered by violence.1997, David Carment, Patrick James, Wars in the Midst of Peace, →ISBN, page 177. From the entry nonethnic
- Traditional therapeutic approaches to the surgical management of hemorrhoid disease such as hemorrhoidectomies are plagued with severe postoperative pain and protracted recovery.2022 May 19, “Laser hemorrhoidoplasty in the treatment of symptomatic hemorrhoids: a pilot Australian study”, in pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov…. From the entry laser hemorrhoidoplasty
- Expanded polystyrene foam—commonly, although incorrectly, called Styrofoam—has been the subject of a protracted battle between New York City officials and large industry players, particularly Dart.2018 August 9, Gerald Porter Jr., Corinne Ramey, “Industry-Backed Group Keeps Fighting Foam Ban”, in The Wall Street Journal, archived…. From the entry styrofoam
- Older Duppies who've lived through previous layoffs seem prepared for the emotional and financial shifts that a protracted job loss can bring.2003 June 17, Leslie Haggin Geary, “Here come the 'Duppies'”, in CNN/Money. From the entry duppie
- The remarks came just days after Putin appeared to be girding Russians for a protracted war in Ukraine, saying that his military operation could be a “long-term process”.2022 December 9, Andrew Roth, “Putin suggests possibility of settlement to end war in Ukraine”, in The Guardian. From the entry gird
- The gleefully sadistic killer pushes Jaime into a fight, telling him that he slept with Cersei, and after a protracted struggle, even sinks his blade into Jaime’s side.2019 May 12, Alex McLevy, “Westeros faces a disastrous final battle on the penultimate Game of Thrones (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club…. From the entry protracted
- While focalism drew from previous Marxist-Leninist ideas and the Maoist strategy of protracted people's war, it also broke with many of the mid-Cold War era's established communist parties.2016, Brendan Michael, The Cold War Handbook - Everything You Need To Know About Cold War, page 168. From the entry focalism
- 'Rome's a very chiaroscuro city, I've always thought,' said Tom Richardson eventually, sensing that the lull in the conversation was going to be a protracted one.1983 -, Max Davidson, The Wolf, page 68. From the entry chiaroscuro
- The presence of gynecomastia is not associated with development of cancer, yet protracted hyperestrogenemic states, which are associated with gynecomastia, are linked to breast cancer development.1983, William P. Blocker & D. Cardús, Rehabilitation in Ischaemic Heart Disease, SP Medical & Scientific Books - The Michigan University…. From the entry hyperestrogenemic
- But his position of cabinetable politician was protracted until after the war, for Brătianu himself was far from insensible to Saint Aulaire's arguments, and war on Germany was declared.1977, Francisc Păcurariu, The Labyrinth, page 94. From the entry cabinetable
- At Yatung, the question of whether the Dalai Lama should go into exile or come to terms with the Chinese became the subject of protracted debate.1963, Margaret W. Fisher, Leo E. Rose, Robert A. Huttenback, Himalayan Battleground; Sino-Indian Rivalry in Ladakh, New York: Frederick A.…. From the entry Yatung
- In the Rhine, off Bingen, there is a cluster of rocks known as the "hunger stones," which are visible only in years of extraordinary, protracted dry weather.1946, The New Yorker, volume 22, part 5, New York, N.Y.: F-R Publishing Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 69, column 1. From the entry hunger stone
Meaning of protract
- verb To draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
- verb To use a protractor.
- verb To draw to a scale; to lay down the lines and angles of, with scale and protractor; to plot.
Questions about protract in a sentence
- How do you use protract in a sentence?
- Protract is used as a verb. For example: “A cat can protract and retract its claws.”
- What is a short sentence with protract?
- “to protract a decision or duty”
- What does protract mean?
- Protract means to draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: protract (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use protract in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/protract. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
