prolongs

Prolongs is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb prolong, meaning to extend or lengthen the duration, scope, or extent of something. It is used to describe actions that increase the period of time that a situation, condition, or process lasts.

In everyday language, one might say that rain prolongs the game or that a policy change prolongs the transition period. In medicine or pharmacology, the term can describe a drug or treatment that prolongs its therapeutic effect or a condition that prolongs survival or remission. In legal or administrative contexts, actions can prolong proceedings or negotiations. The form agrees with third-person singular subjects, as in he prolongs, she prolongs, it prolongs.

Etymology traces prolongs to the verb prolong, which comes from earlier forms such as prolonger in Middle French and from Latin roots pro- (forward) and longus (long). The core sense across languages is to make something longer in time or extent.

See also: prolong, prolongation, extension, lengthen. These related terms cover the act of making something last longer, as well as the noun form that denotes the result of such lengthening.