1. Nautical. See sea anchor.
2. A drogue parachute.
3. A funnel-shaped or cone-shaped device towed behind an aircraft as a target.
4. A funnel-shaped device at the end of the hose of a tanker aircraft, used as a stabilizer and receptacle for the probe of a receiving aircraft, as in refueling.

[Perhaps alteration of DRAG (influenced by obsolete drogue, drug).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.