The Collaborative International Dictionary
Drag line \Drag line\ or Drag rope \Drag rope\ (A["e]ronautics) A guide rope.
Wiktionary
alt. a long, heavy rope carried in the basket of a hot-air balloon and permitted to hang over the side and drag on the ground in order to lighten the basket n. a long, heavy rope carried in the basket of a hot-air balloon and permitted to hang over the side and drag on the ground in order to lighten the basket
Usage examples of "drag rope".
The drag rope therefore had to be untied, carried over the gate, and reattached on the far side.
The second cart became a casualty-and with it one of the medical corpsmen who did not have a chance to relinquish his drag rope as it slithered over the edge of a drop and plunged to a slope far below.
When I released him from the drag rope, he gave a great sigh and footed slowly forward, unled or urged, his head hanging a little.