sprag

UK: /spræɡ/ US: (sprag)

Inflections of 'sprag' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

sprags

v 3rd person singular

spragging

v pres p

spragged

v past

spragged

v past p

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

sprag¹  (sprag), n., v., spragged, sprag•ging. 
n. 

1. Transport a pole or bar hinged to the rear axle of a cart or the like in such a way that it can brace the vehicle against a road to prevent it from rolling downhill.
2. Mining a short timber for propping up loose walls or spacing two sets.

v.t. 

3. Transport to prop, support, or immobilize (a vehicle) by means of a sprag.

v.i. 

4. Transport to slow a vehicle by means of a sprag or, sometimes, by bracing the feet against the ground.

• 1835–45; special use of dialect, dialectal sprag twig (Old English spræcg shoot, slip); akin to sprig

sprag²  (sprag), n. 

1. Fish a young cod.

• 1700–10; special use of dialect, dialectal sprag twig, lively young man; see sprag¹ and for meaning, compare sprig

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

sprag / spræɡ/ noun

1. a chock or steel bar used to prevent a vehicle from running backwards on an incline
2. a support or post used in mining

Etymology: 19th Century: of uncertain origin