rag
A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture; ragstone.
Noun especially, in plural
- Tattered clothes (clothing).
- —What a pretty dress! —What, this old rag?
- It's semiformal. I can't show up dressed in rags!
- rags to riches
- A piece of old cloth, especially one used for cleaning, patching, etc.; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred or tatter.
- Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, toss'd, / And flutter'd into rags; then reliques, beads, - 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book III, lines 490-491:
- […]even by the law of their own might and malice, not having otherwise any rag of legality to cover the shame of their cruelty. - 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain from the Birth of Jesus Christ until...
- A shabby, beggarly person; synonym of ragamuffin.
- For upon the like Proclamation there, they all came in, both tag and rag - 1596, Edmund Spenser, A Veue of the Present State of Irelande:
- The other zealous rag is the compositor, / Who in an angle where the ants inhabit, / (The emblems of his labors) will sit curl'd - 1623, Ben Jonson, Time Vindicated to Himself and to His Honours:
- Nor will it be achieved by marching in the streets in leather, drag, chains, fish net over-flying-tits or any other get up. It will not be accomplished by hung-over bar rags, hustlers, shallow queens, or angry dykes. -...
- A ragged edge in metalworking.
- A sail, or any piece of canvas.
- Our ship was a clipper, with every rag set, stunsails, sky-scrapers, and all. - 1864, James Russell Lowell, My Garden Acquaintance; A Good Word for Winter; A Moosehead Journal, page 83:
- "'Oh yes, that's all very well, but we haven't done with it yet,' said the lad, 'we shall have it worse directly,' and he ordered them to furl every rag but the mizen." - 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by...
- Sanitary napkins, pads, or other materials used to absorb menstrual discharge.
- "It's heaviest on the first day, which might be why it hurts so much. After that, it slows down and eventually stops, but you'll need the rags for about a week." - 2020, Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words, page...
- A newspaper or magazine, especially one whose journalism is considered to be of poor quality.
- "You must behave yourself, dear. Mr. Malone is a Pressman. He will have it all in his rag to-morrow, and sell an extra dozen among our neighbors." - 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.:...
Synonyms: fish wrap
- A poor, low-ranking kicker.
- I have ace-four on my hand. In other words, I have ace-rag.
- A curtain of various kinds.
- A person suffering from exhaustion or lack of energy.
- "It took it out of me, though. I'm a rag this morning." "They work you too hard, dear." - 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html),...
- A banknote.
- What was he at, do you think? Counting bank-notes; he had bundles of them. […] Well, Guv'nor, he stood up by-and-by, and taking the bundles of rags, the big uns in one hand, tother ones in tother, he toddled out of the...
- An uneven vertical margin (of a block of type).
- We always leave rag on article typeset for the web.
Origin
From Middle English ragge, from Old English ragg (suggested by derivative raggiġ (“shaggy; bristly; ragged”)), from Old Norse rǫgg (“tuft; shagginess”), from Proto-Germanic *rawwa-, probably related to *rūhaz. Cognate with Swedish ragg. Related to rug.
Forms
Derived
bean rag boiled rag chew the rag cumrag cuntrag dishrag do-rag dustrag fag rag glad rags head rag in rag order in rags jam rag jizzrag lose one's rag main rag oily rag on the rag rag and bone man rag-and-bone man rag-and-bone shop ragazine ragbag
Noun dated
- A prank or practical joke.
- The rascal winked and grinned. 'There are always and means,' said he. 'But don't blame your foreman. He thought it was just a rag. I swapped clothes with his assistant, and in I came.' - 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,...
- Well, it’s only a rag, isn’t it? - 1935, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night:
- A society run by university students for the purpose of charitable fundraising.
Origin
Uncertain. Ideas about the scolding and tormenting senses being related to on the rag are only speculative.
Forms
Derived
Noun US, obsolete
- An informal dance party featuring music played by African-American string bands.
- A ragtime song, dance or piece of music.
Origin
Perhaps from ragged. Compare later ragtime.
Forms
Noun Entry 4
- A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture; ragstone.
- the three walls around the garden, each one of thirty-three feet, were built out of three layers of stone — pebble stone, flint and rag stone. - 2003, Peter Ackroyd, The Clerkenwell Tales, page 1:
Origin
Unknown origin; perhaps the same word as Etymology 1, above.
Forms
Derived
Verb Entry 5
- To decorate (a wall, etc.) by applying paint with a rag.
- To become tattered.
- To menstruate.
Forms
Derived
Verb Entry 6
- To scold or tell off; to torment; to banter.
- “Yesterday it was Mademoiselle Daubreuil, today it is Mademoiselle—Cinderella! Decidedly you have the heart of a Turk, Hastings! You should establish a harem!” “It’s all very well to rag me. […]” - 1923, Agatha...
- To drive a car or another vehicle in a hard, fast or unsympathetic manner.
Hypernyms: ride hard and put away wet
- To tease or torment, especially at a university; to bully, to haze.
Forms
Derived
Verb informal, transitive
- To play or compose (a piece, melody, etc.) in syncopated time.
- Now let's rag it. We'll keep the notes more or less the same but make the rhythm more fun. - 2020, Ned Bennett, How To Play Jazz Saxophone, page 9:
- To dance to ragtime music.
- To add syncopation (to a tune) and thereby make it appropriate for a ragtime song.
Forms
Verb Entry 8
- To break (ore) into lumps for sorting.
Hypernyms: dress
- To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone.
- Near-synonym: rough
Synonyms: rough
Hypernyms: dress