rags


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rag 1

 (răg)
n.
1.
a. A scrap of cloth.
b. A piece of cloth used for cleaning, washing, or dusting.
2. rags Threadbare or tattered clothing.
3. Cloth converted to pulp for making paper.
4. A scrap; a fragment.
5. Slang A newspaper, especially one specializing in sensationalism or gossip.
6. The stringy central portion and membranous walls of a citrus fruit.
Idiom:
on the rag Vulgar Slang
1. Menstruating.
2. Irritable; grouchy.

[Middle English ragge, ultimately (probably partly by back-formation from raggi, shaggy, ragged) of Old Norse origin; akin to Old Icelandic rögg, tuft and Swedish ragg, shaggy hair.]

rag 2

 (răg)
tr.v. ragged, rag·ging, rags
1. Slang
a. To criticize or scold (someone).
b. To criticize or complain about (something).
c. To tease or taunt (someone).
2. Chiefly British To play a joke on.
3. 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.
Phrasal Verb:
rag on
1. To criticize or scold: ragged on me for being late.
2. To complain about (something).
3. To tease or taunt: ragged on their classmate mercilessly.

[Origin unknown.]

rag 3

 (răg)
n.
1. A roofing slate with one rough surface.
2. Chiefly British A coarsely textured rock.

[Origin unknown.]

rag 4

 (răg)
tr.v. ragged, rag·ging, rags
To compose or play (a piece) in ragtime.
n.
A piece written in ragtime.

[Perhaps from ragged.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

rags

(ræɡz)
pl n
1. torn, old, or shabby clothing
2. (Textiles) cotton or linen cloth waste used in the manufacture of rag paper
3. from rags to riches informal
a. from poverty to great wealth
b. (as modifier): a rags-to-riches tale.
4. glad rags informal best clothes; finery
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Translations
خِرَق، ثِياب مُمَزَّقَه
hadry
laser
rongyok
fataræflar, larfar
yırtık pırtık elbise

rag

(rӕg) noun
a piece of old, torn or worn cloth. I'll polish my bike with this old rag.
ˈragged (ˈrӕgid) adjective
1. dressed in old, worn or torn clothing. a ragged beggar.
2. torn. ragged clothes.
3. rough or uneven; not straight or smooth. a ragged edge.
ˈraggedly adverb
ˈraggedness noun
rags noun plural
old, worn or torn clothes. The beggar was dressed in rags.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
A long time passed away, then the collar came into the rag chest at the paper mill; there was a large company of rags, the fine by themselves, and the coarse by themselves, just as it should be.
In all unhandy places there were buckets, brooms, rags and bottles.
Of course, there are many rich men in the empire, but their money is buried, and they dress in rags and counterfeit poverty.
"How now, you dirty villain!" quoth he, "mend your manners to your betters, or, by our Lady, I'll dust your rags for you."
To be loyal to rags, to shout for rags, to worship rags, to die for rags -- that is a loyalty of unreason, it is pure animal; it belongs to monarchy, was invented by monarchy; let monarchy keep it.
The buoyancy of his gait, the elasticity of his step, and the hilarity of his countenance, showed that he anticipated, with chuckling satisfaction, the surprise he was about to give those who had ejected him from their society in rags. But what a change was there in his whole appearance when he rejoined the party in the evening!
"Scraps ought to, being rags herself," said the cat; "but I simply can't stand it; it makes my whiskers curl."
Seest thou not the souls hanging like limp dirty rags?--And they make newspapers also out of these rags!
But the scullery you would not care to see; it is greasy, dirty, and odoriferous, while the stairs are in rags, and the walls so covered with filth that the hand sticks fast wherever it touches them.
Fanny brought out her "rags" and was astonished to see how many she had, for chair, sofa, bed, and bureau were covered, and still Maud, who was burrowing in the closets, kept crying, "Here 's another."
His clothes hung upon him like rags on a scarecrow.
To leave family, home, and all the cares of worldly welfare, in order without clinging to anything to wander in hempen rags from place to place under an assumed name, doing no one any harm but praying for all- for those who drive one away as well as for those who protect one: higher than that life and truth there is no life or truth!"