verb (used with object)
1.
to tire or weary by labor; exhaust (often followed by out ): The long climb fagged us out.
2.
British. to require (a younger public-school pupil) to do menial chores.
3.
Nautical. to fray or unlay the end of (a rope).
verb (used without object)
4.
Chiefly British. to work until wearied; work hard: to fag away at French.
5.
British Informal. to do menial chores for an older public-school pupil.
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Fag
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is fletcherise. Does it mean:
| chat, to converse |
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
noun
6.
Slang. a cigarette.
7.
a fag end, as of cloth.
8.
a rough or defective spot in a woven fabric; blemish; flaw.
9.
Chiefly British. drudgery; toil.
10.
British Informal. a younger pupil in a British public school required to perform certain menial tasks for, and submit to the hazing of, an older pupil.
Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English fagge broken thread in cloth, loose end (of obscure origin); sense development apparently: drooping end > to droop, tire > to make weary > drudgery, drudge (compare relationship of flag1 to flag3); (def 6) a shortening of fag end (a butt, hence a cigarette)
1425–75; late Middle English fagge broken thread in cloth, loose end (of obscure origin); sense development apparently: drooping end > to droop, tire > to make weary > drudgery, drudge (compare relationship of flag1 to flag3); (def 6) a shortening of fag end (a butt, hence a cigarette)
Related forms
un·fagged, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Origin:
1920–25, Americanism; by shortening
1920–25, Americanism; by shortening
Related forms
fag·gish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To fag
Collins
World English Dictionary
fag1 (fæɡ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | informal a boring or wearisome task: it's a fag having to walk all that way |
| 2. | (Brit) (esp formerly) a young public school boy who performs menial chores for an older boy or prefect |
| —vb (when tr, | |
| 3. | informal to become or cause to become exhausted by hard toil or work |
| 4. | (Brit) (usually intr) to do or cause to do menial chores in a public school: Brown fags for Lee |
| [C18: of obscure origin] | |
| fag2 (fæɡ) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | (Brit) a slang word for cigarette |
| 2. | a fag end, as of cloth |
| [C16 (in the sense: something hanging loose, flap): of obscure origin] | |
| fag3 (fæɡ) | |
| —n | |
| slang chiefly (US), (Canadian) short for faggot | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
fag
"to droop, decline, tire," 1520s, apparently an alteration of flag in its verbal sense of "droop." Trans. sense of "to make (someone or something) fatigued" is first attested 1826. Related: Fagged.
fag
British slang for "cigarette" (originally, especially, the butt of a smoked cigarette), 1888, probably from fag-end "extreme end, loose piece" (1613), from fag "loose piece" (1486), perhaps related to fag (v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
fag definition[fæg]
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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