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rags

 - 10 dictionary results

rag

1[rag]
–noun
1. a worthless piece of cloth, esp. one that is torn or worn.
2. rags, ragged or tattered clothing: The tramp was dressed in rags.
3. any article of apparel regarded deprecatingly or self-deprecatingly, esp. a dress: It's just an old rag I had in the closet.
4. a shred, scrap, or fragmentary bit of anything.
5. Informal.
a. something of very low value or in very poor condition.
b. a newspaper or magazine regarded with contempt or distaste: Are you still subscribing to that rag?
6. a person of shabby or exhausted appearance.
7. a large roofing slate that has one edge untrimmed.
8. chew the rag. chew (def. 11).
9. from rags to riches, from extreme poverty to great wealth: He went from rags to riches in only three years.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME ragge < Scand; cf. Norw, Sw ragg coarse hair < ON rǫgg

rag

2[rag] verb, ragged, rag⋅ging, noun Informal.
–verb (used with object)
1. to scold.
2. to subject to a teasing, esp. in an intense or prolonged way (often fol. by on): Some of the boys were ragging on him about his haircut.
3. British. to torment with jokes; play crude practical jokes on.
–noun
4. British. an act of ragging.

Origin:
1790–1800; orig. uncert.

rag

3[rag]
–verb (used with object), ragged, rag⋅ging.
to break up (lumps of ore) for sorting.

Origin:
1870–75; orig. uncert.

rag

4[rag] noun, verb, ragged, rag⋅ging.
–noun
1. a musical composition in ragtime: a piano rag.
–verb (used with object)
2. to play (music) in ragtime.

Origin:
1895–1900; shortened form of ragtime
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To rags
rag 1   (rāg)   
n.  
    1. A scrap of cloth.

    2. A piece of cloth used for cleaning, washing, or dusting.

  1. rags Threadbare or tattered clothing.

  2. Cloth converted to pulp for making paper.

  3. A scrap; a fragment.

  4. Slang A newspaper, especially one specializing in sensationalism or gossip.

  5. The stringy central portion and membranous walls of a citrus fruit.


[Middle English ragge, from Old English *ragg, from Old Norse *rögg, woven tuft of wool.]
rag 2   (rāg)   
tr.v.   ragged, rag·ging, rags
  1. Slang To tease or taunt. See Synonyms at banter.

  2. Slang To berate; scold.

  3. Chiefly British To play a joke on.

  4. Sports In ice hockey, to maintain possession of (the puck) by outmaneuvering opposing players, especially so as to kill a penalty.

n.   Chiefly British
A practical joke; a prank.

[Origin unknown.]
rag 3   (rāg)   
n.  
  1. A roofing slate with one rough surface.

  2. Chiefly British A coarsely textured rock.


[Origin unknown.]
rag 4   (rāg)   
tr.v.   ragged, rag·ging, rags
To compose or play (a piece) in ragtime.
n.  A piece written in ragtime.

[Perhaps from ragged.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
rag

  1. n.
    a newspaper. : What a rag! It's only good for putting in the bottom of bird cages!
  2. n.
    ugly or badly styled clothing; an ugly garment. : I can't wear that rag!
  3. n.
    any clothing, even the best. (Always plural.) : Man, I got some new rags that will knock your eyes out!
  4. n.
    a sanitary napkin; a tampon. (For use in the menstrual cycle. Usually objectionable.) : God, I've got to change this rag!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

rag  (n.)
c.1310, probably from O.N. rogg "shaggy tuft," earlier raggw-, or possibly from O.Dan. rag (see rug), or a back-formation from ragged (c.1300), which is from O.N. raggaðr "shaggy," via O.E. raggig "rag-like." It also may represent an unrecorded O.E. cognate of O.N. rogg. As an insulting term for "newspaper, magazine" it dates from 1734; slang for "tampon, sanitary napkin" is attested from 1930s. Rags "personal clothing" is from 1855, Amer.Eng. Rags-to-riches "rise from poverty to wealth" is attested from 1947. Ragtop "convertible car" is from 1955. Raghead, insulting term for "South Asian or Middle Eastern person," first attested 1921.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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