protract

verb

Etymology: From the past participle stem of Latin prōtrahō. By surface analysis, pro- + tract.

1. To draw out; to extend, especially in duration.

   “Doubtless he shrives this woman to her smock; Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech.”

   “1755, Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, London: J. and P. Knapton et al., Volume 1, Preface, I have protracted my work till most of those whom I wished to please, have sunk into the grave […]”

2. To use a protractor.
3. To draw to a scale; to lay down the lines and angles of, with scale and protractor; to plot.

   “This is a synopsis of our marches, which, protracted on Burckhardt’s map, gives an error of ten miles.”

4. To put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer.

   “to protract a decision or duty”

   “[…] Let us bury him, And not protract with admiration what Is now due debt. To the grave!”

5. To extend; to protrude.

   “A cat can protract and retract its claws.”