lag behind

Related to lag behind: take it on the chin, I couldn't agree more, run an errand, To Say the Least

lag behind

To move or happen at a slower pace than someone or something else. Why are you guys lagging behind? Pick up the pace! We had thought the turnout for these events would pick up, but it's really lagged behind our estimates.
See also: behind, lag
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

lag behind (someone or something)

to linger behind someone or something; to fall behind someone or something. Come on up here. Don't lag behind us or you'll get lost. Please don't lag behind the donkeys. Come up here with the rest of the hikers.
See also: behind, lag
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

lag behind

v.
1. To fail to maintain the pace or progress of someone or something; straggle: I lagged behind the rest of the hikers and got lost. Don't forget to do your readings for class, or you'll lag behind.
2. To proceed or develop with comparative slowness: Sales are lagging behind this year compared to last year.
See also: behind, lag
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • lag
  • lagging
  • force the pace
  • keep pace
  • can't stand the pace
  • snail's pace
  • be in sync (with someone or something)
  • have lead in (one's) pants
  • hurry (someone or something) along
  • hurry along
References in periodicals archive
Ask a climate scientist: CO2 and temperature Is there any merit to the studies that show that historical CO2 levels lag behind temperature, and not lead them?
"But there is more to using e-business than simply e-commerce and e-marketing and that is where this country is tending to lag behind.
And even though the number of women enrolled in engineering degree programs has increased, they still lag behind their male counterparts.
Net sales for the first nine months of $236.9 million lag behind last year's record level by 6.1%.
On national assessments in mathematics, Black students' performance continues to lag behind that of White students, with uneven progress in closing the gap.
Maybe it's a simple matter of proximity to the disease, but North American life insurance companies lag behind their international counterparts in their preparation for a possible avian influenza pandemic.
According to recent figures from the Pew Hispanic Center, African Americans lag behind all other groups in metrics of wealth.
Our output per worker lags behind France, Germany and the US because we lag behind in investment, research and skills.
It seems that the Border Patrol grabs the Mexican group, loads them up and leaves while the Arabs lag behind and get away." However, when Middle-Eastern aliens are arrested, they are immediately taken by the Department of Homeland Security and Border Patrol agents.
British industry will continue to lag behind other countries over productivity partly because of "substandard" management skills, claims a survey of managers.
Only Tony Oursler--the fourth member of a loose-knit crew that once collaborated on the art bands Destroy All Monsters (the original lineup of which featured Kelley, Shaw, Carey Loren, and Niagara) and the Poetics (comprising just Oursler and Kelley) and that continue to make occasional guest appearances in one another's projects--seemed to lag behind, achieving less success than he deserved with his early videos of puppet plays and performances.
However, Fawcett notes that non-unionized Workers with disabilities of both genders "still lag behind their counterparts without disabilities, with women being particularly disadvantaged."
Northern Ontario has continued to lag behind in high-speed infrastructure compared to the rest of the province, Farkouh said, and this diminishes economic opportunities.
This possibility is based on the evidence from animal studies that succimer-induced reductions in brain lead lag behind reductions in blood lead (Cremin et al.