Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also drag arse) to go, to travel (the subtext is often of reluctance).

1934		L. Berg Prison Nurse (1964) 28: You hold out your hands and take your cut. But the minute things start getting tough you want to ‘drag arse’ out.
1960		I. Freeman Out of the Burning (1961) 123: Now drag ass home, all of you!
1978		H. Selby Jr Requiem for a Dream (1987) 82: She opened the door and Tyrone dragassed in.
1986		C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 38: Kennedy has to get up at five in the morning [...] and dragass down to this shithole.
2008		T. Piccirilli Fever Kill 45: They’d [...] give him a chase before dragging ass back to whichever motel they were holed up in.
2013		T. Black ‘Killing Time in Las Vegas’ in Killing Time in Las Vegas [ebook] Just a joy to be dragging ass across state for this kinda shit.

2. (also drag tail) to act slowly, lazily [note drag one’s tail under tail n.].

1955		E. Hunter Blackboard Jungle 297: Draggin’ yo’ ass in after the late bell, Chief. You settin’ a bad ’zample for the pupils here. [...] Wunt you draggin’ ass, man?
1961		R. Gover One Hundred Dollar Misunderstanding 63: This poor ol cat is draggin ass.
1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 89: She said her ass was draggin anyway. It was only two weeks or so since she had the kid.
1967		(con. 1920s) J. Thompson South of Heaven (1994) 187: Everyone was barely dragging tail.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 108: I yawned. My ass dragged. I was up late last nite.

3. to do badly.

1960		(con. 1940s) G. Morrill Dark Sea Running 97: If you drag ass on this job the lines will bury you.
1969		C. Sellers Where Have All the Soldiers Gone 27: ‘How come you’re still draggin’ ass in school and hanging around with a bunch of long-haired queers?’.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 255: Joint was draggin ass. Wasn’t ten people in the place.