shag

1
[ shag ]
See synonyms for shag on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. rough, matted hair, wool, or the like.

  2. a mass of this.

  1. a hairdo in which hair is cut in slightly uneven, overlapping layers downward from the crown, sometimes with the hair at the front and back hairlines left longer or wispier than the rest.

  2. a cloth with a nap, as of silk or a heavy or rough woolen fabric.

  3. a rug or carpet with a thick, shaggy pile.

  4. a coarse tobacco cut into fine shreds.

verb (used with or without object),shagged, shag·ging.
  1. to make or become rough or shaggy.

Origin of shag

1
First recorded before 1050; Old English sceacga “(wooly) hair” (not recorded in Middle English ); cognate with Old Norse skegg “beard”; akin to shaw

Other words from shag

  • shaglike, adjective

Other definitions for shag (2 of 5)

shag2
[ shag ]

noun
  1. a small cormorant, Phalacrocorax aristotelis, of European coasts.

  2. any of several small cormorants of the Southern Hemisphere.

Origin of shag

2
First recorded before 1560–70; perhaps special use of shag1, applied first to bird's crest

Other definitions for shag (3 of 5)

shag3
[ shag ]

verb (used without object),shagged, shag·ging.
  1. to dance a step with a vigorous hopping on each foot.

noun
  1. this dance step.

Origin of shag

3
First recorded in 1350–1400; perhaps variant of shog

Other definitions for shag (4 of 5)

shag4
[ shag ]

verb (used with object),shagged, shag·ging.
  1. to chase or follow after; pursue.

  2. to go after and bring back; fetch.

  1. Baseball. to retrieve and throw back (fly balls) in batting practice.

Origin of shag

4
First recorded in 1930–35; origin uncertain; see shack2

Other definitions for shag (5 of 5)

shag5
[ shag ]

verb (used with or without object)
  1. to have sexual intercourse (with): He was caught shagging his friend’s sister.Sorry, but I don’t shag with just anyone.

noun
  1. an act or instance of sexual intercourse: It’s been a while since I’ve had a shag.

  2. a sexual partner, or a person considered as a sexual object: I bet she’d be a good shag.

Origin of shag

5
First recorded in 1780–90; origin unknown

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use shag in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for shag (1 of 3)

shag1

/ (ʃæɡ) /


noun
  1. a matted tangle, esp of hair, wool, etc

  2. a napped fabric, usually a rough wool

  1. shredded coarse tobacco

verbshags, shagging or shagged
  1. (tr) to make shaggy

Origin of shag

1
Old English sceacga; related to sceaga shaw 1, Old Norse skegg beard, skagi tip, skōgr forest

British Dictionary definitions for shag (2 of 3)

shag2

/ (ʃæɡ) /


noun
  1. a cormorant, esp the green cormorant (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)

  2. like a shag on a rock Australian slang abandoned and alone

Origin of shag

2
C16: special use of shag 1, with reference to its crest

British Dictionary definitions for shag (3 of 3)

shag3

/ (ʃæɡ) British slang /


verbshags, shagging or shagged
  1. to have sexual intercourse with (a person)

  2. (tr often foll by out; usually passive) to exhaust; tire

noun
  1. an act of sexual intercourse

Origin of shag

3
C20: of unknown origin

usage For shag

Though still likely to cause offence to many older or more conservative people, this word has lost a lot of its shock value of late. It seems to have a jocular, relaxed connotation, which most of the other words in this field do not. No doubt its acceptability has been accelerated by its use in the title of an Austin Powers film. Interestingly, though advertisements for the film caused a large number of complaints to the British Advertising Standards Authority, they were not upheld

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