▪ I. rag, n.1
(ræg)
Also 4–7 ragg(e.
[ME. ragge, possibly repr. an OE. *ragg (cf. raggiᵹ raggy a.1), ad. ON. rǫgg tuft or strip of fur (Norw. and Sw. ragg rough hair); the difference in sense between the ME. and ON. ns. may have been developed through the adjs. ragged and raggy.]
I. 1. a. A small worthless fragment or shred of some woven material; esp. one of the irregular scraps into which a piece of such material is reduced by wear and tear.
| c 1310 [see b]. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxiv. (Alexis) 411 His clathis in ragis he rafe. 1388 Wyclif Jer. xxxviii. 11 Elde clothis, and elde ragges, that were rotun. 1538 Bale Thre Lawes 677 Ragges, rotten bones and styckes. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 400 [A coat] over-rotten and run to ragges and tatters. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 491 Cowles, Hoods and Habits..tost And flutterd into Raggs. 1735 B. Martin Philos. Gram. 151 Dogs, Cats, Rats, Mice &c...expire in half a Minute, and look as thin as a Rag. 1820 Shelley Vis. Sea 1 The rags of the sail Are flickering. 1848 Dickens Dombey vi, There was a great heap of rags..lying on the floor. 1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. I. 28/1 We believe that rags are frequently disinfected by the owners of paper mills. |
b. Used in
pl. to denote a ragged or tattered garment or clothes;
freq. in
phr. in rags.
| c 1310 Pol. Songs (Camden) 150 That er werede robes, nou wereth ragges. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 100 In ragges, as sche was totore, He set hire on his hors tofore. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxix. 27 Honest ȝemen..Ar now arrayit in raggis. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. i. 84 What, shalt thou exchange for ragges, roabes? 1671 Milton Samson 415 The base degree to which I now am fall'n, These rags, this grinding. 1784 Cowper Task i. 568 The sportive wind blows wide Their fluttering rags, and shows a tawny skin. 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles xiv. 137 Such mercy went far to encourage rags and tatters. 1874 Ruskin Fors Clav. xliv. 171 Going in rags through the winter. |
| fig. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 226 Cristene men shulden þenke shame to cloþe hem above wiþ raggis, and foule þe worþi suyt of Crist. 1659 Pearson Creed (1839) 262 To put on the rags of our infirmity before the robe of majesty and immortality. 1700 Dryden Wife of Bath's T. 457, I begin, In virtue cloathed, to cast the rags of sin. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 936 My moral rags defile me every one. 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. ii. xvii, The superannuated rags and unsound callosities of Formulas. |
c. Used (
esp. in negative phrases) to suggest the smallest scrap of cloth or clothing.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. x. 58 Without or robe or rag to hide his shame. a 1625 Fletcher Faithful Friends iv. iv, I prize poor virtue with a rag Better than vice with both the Indies. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia v. i, Won't leave him a rag to his back nor a penny in his pocket. a 1786 N. Greene in Bancroft Hist. U.S. (1876) VI. lvii. 462 Not a rag of clothing has arrived to us this winter. 1873 Routledge's Young Gentlm. Mag. May 366/1 The ‘week's wash’ had disappeared. Every rag of it. |
| fig. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 562 He had First Matter seen undrest..Before one rag of form was on. |
d. Similarly, the smallest scrap
of sail.
| 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xiii. 40 We passed that night..without bearing so much as a rag of sail. 1804 Naval Chron. XI. 258 Steering after them with every rag of sail set. 1823 Byron Island ii. xxi, I've seen no rag of canvass on the sea. |
e. In
sing. without article, as a material.
| 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 99 Some simple ointment spread on rag. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 375 Compressing the fibres of rag together, for the purpose of making them cohere, and thereby giving tenacity to the paper. |
f. pl. Personal clothing or garments of any kind. Also in
sing., a garment,
esp. a dress or coat.
Cf. glad rags s.v. glad a. 4
f. colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
| 1855 Knickerbocker XLV. 502 Oh! the robe was of moire antique, (a very expensive ‘rag’). 1883 ‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi iii. 43, I stood up and shook my rags off and jumped into the river. 1903 N. & Q. Dec. 513/1 ‘Raggie’ is of course diminutive or fond for ‘rag’, i.e. coat, tunic. I remember my uncle, writing to congratulate me on passing into the R.M. Academy, Woolwich, many years ago, asking me if I was ‘going to sport the blue rag or the red one’—R.A. or R.E. 1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands x. 126 In their secon' best baggin', they're sort iv subdood... Look at ther difference when they get inter ther rags. 1966 ‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse II. 88 Rags, any form of clothing. 1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin' iv. 171 Rags, clothing. |
g. (from) rags to riches: used variously to describe a ‘fairy-tale’ rise from poverty to wealth;
esp. as
attrib. phr.| 1947 R. de Toledano Frontiers of Jazz 148 Goodman was the first real rags-to-riches success in the swing-jazz field. 1953 Gramophone Dec. 256/2 The Irish flavour is readily apparent in Begorrah as sung by Ray Burns... This is great fun, and infinitely preferable to the more common⁓place Rags to Riches verso. 1954 M. Ewer Heart Untouched ix. 156 Isn't this a Cinderella story—a rags to riches? 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Nov. 658/2 The story he has to tell is..a classic American rags-to-riches story with nothing lacking. 1965 ‘H. Carmichael’ Post Mortem x. 120 One of those spectacular companies that came up from nowhere. You've heard of them—from rags to riches in five years. 1972 D. Lees Zodiac 34 It stands up as a rags to riches yarn. 1977 Cornish Times 19 Aug. 9/2 Last week's Cornish Times spelt out a success story with the rare theme of rags to riches by sheer hard labour. |
2. transf. and
fig. a. A fragment, scrap, bit, remnant; a torn or irregularly shaped piece.
| c 1440 York Myst. xxx. 36 All to ragges schall ye rente hym and ryue hym. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle of Facions ii. ix. 207 Then take thei the dead mannes heade, and pike the braine oute cleane, with all other moistures and ragges. 1611 Cotgr., Chaplis,..the small peeces that flye from stones in the hewing; we call them rags. 1650 Fuller Pisgah i. ii. 6 Some proud Geographer will scarce stoop to take up so small a Ragge of land into his consideration. 1761 Ann. Reg. ii. 7 Where meat is plentiful they boil the offal to rags. 1820 Shelley Sensit. Pl. iii. 68 A murderer's stake, Where rags of loose flesh yet tremble on high. 1873 Black Pr. Thule i. 1 Volumes and flying rags of cloud. |
b. of immaterial things.
| a 1529 Skelton Replyc. 1 A lytell ragge of rethorike, A lesse lumpe of logyke. 1579 E. K. Ded. Spenser's Sheph. Cal., They patched vp the holes with peces and rags of other languages. 1624 Donne 80 Serm. ii. 12 First and last are but ragges of time. 1707 Curiosities in Husb. & Gard. 29 The Belief..is a Rag of the Peripatetick Philosophy. 1807–8 W. Irving Salmag. (1827) 170 A fierce fellow..tearing the music to rags. 1893 Times 22 Apr., They have no rag of evidence to uphold them. 1922 E. Sitwell Fa{cced}ade 14 Limp in bright crackling rags of laughter. 1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin iii. 45 Their spirits shed their gross Rags of despair. 1963 S. Cloete (title) Rags of glory. |
c. of money. ? Hence in
obs. Cant, a farthing.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. iv. 89 Monie by me? Heart and good will you might [send], But..not a ragge of Monie. 1613 Beaum. & Fl. Captain iv. ii, Jac. 'Twere good she had a little foolish mony... Host. Not a rag, Not a Deniere. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rag, a Farthing. 1811 Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Rag,..Money in general. The cove has no rag; the fellow has no money. 1846 Swell's Night Guide 14 The pleasure-seeker may gain admission, if his appearance proclaim that he is in possession of the rag—the tin to defray the unavoidable demands upon his purse. |
d. A familiar name applied to the Army and Navy Club in London. In full
the Rag and Famish (see
quot. 1908
1).
slang.| 1858 Trollope Three Clerks II. i. 5 He delighted in the Rag and Famish, and there spent the most of his time. 1908 Nevill & Jerningham Piccadilly to Pall Mall vi. 235 The familiar name of the ‘Rag’, by which it is generally known, was invented by Captain William Duff, of the 23rd Fusiliers... Coming in to supper late one night, the refreshment obtainable appeared so meagre that he nicknamed the club the ‘Rag and Famish’. 1908 ‘One of the Old Brigade’ London in Sixties xvii. 224 These touts and store-keepers and bonnet-shop keepers will make the Rag a den of thieves, by Gad. 1941 E. Nash I liked Life I Lived iv. 33 Cairnes, who was a most hospitable man, invited me to dine with him once a week at the Rag, while the sales of the book were in full swing... No member of the Army and Navy Club was aware that Cairnes had written the book. 1974 R. McDouall Clubland Cooking 12 Unlike the clubs on the south side of Pall Mall..the Junior Carlton and the Rag owned their freeholds. |
e. Phr.
to knock all to rags: to knock senseless.
U.S.| 1889 ‘Mark Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xxxiii. 432 The blow came crashing down and knocked him all to rags. |
3. a. Applied contemptuously to things,
e.g. a torn or scanty garment, a flag, handkerchief, theatre-curtain, newspaper, paper-money, etc.; also, a napkin worn during menstruation, a sanitary towel;
esp. in
phr. to have the rag(s) on.
| 1549 Latimer 5th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 154 Another poore womanne was hanged for stealynge a fewe ragges of a hedg. a 1734 North Exam. ii. v. §14 (1740) 323 Would any one expect in Print, upon tolerable Paper, and a clear Character, such Malice and Knavery as lies here, scarce fit for Midnight Grubstreet Rags. 1752 Fielding Amelia ii. iv, Young gentlemen of the order of the rag. 1782 J. Trumbull M'Fingal iv. 97 O'er heaps of rags, he waves his wand, All turn to gold at his command. 1811 Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Rag, bank notes. 1816 Deb. Congress U.S. 29 Jan. (1854) 775, I say cash, sir, for we, there, have nothing of that circulating medium which the gentleman from Virginia..denominates rags. 1817 Paulding Letters from South II. 158 What would be an independence, were it not for the rags in circulation. 1832 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 117/1 Under their tri-color—the rascally rag. 1846 Swell's Night Guide 129/1, Rag, money—I've no rag; meaning, I've no notes. 1859 J. W. Cole Life & Times C. Kean I. i. 8 Our old friends of the Dublin gallery, who, in days of yore, never failed to cry, ‘Up with the rag!’ even before the act-drop, so classically designated, had time to reach the ground. 1885 J. K. Jerome On the Stage 76 The ‘rag’ went up unexpectedly, and discovered the following scene. 1889 Spectator 23 Nov. 712/1 Every rubbishy rag now contains the ‘news’. 1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xvii. 233 Ther revolvin' arm [of a machine] was bent out, 'n' it got home a left lead 'n' er right cross, 'n' ther rag went in from ther Pelican's corner. 1920 J. Ferguson Northern Numbers 101 The lights are lowered and the ‘rag’ divides. 1929 A. Conan Doyle Maracot Deep 200 Has your rag commissioned you to obtain an interview? 1948 Amer. Speech XXIII. 249/2 Riding the rag, menstruating. 1955 D. W. Maurer in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 115 That working stiff had over two C's in rag on him. 1961 Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1242/2 Rags (on), have the, to be having one's period. 1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 51 Male disgust [for menstruation] expressed in terms like having the rags on. 1974 National Skat & Sheepshead Q. Mar./Apr. 7 The bills [sc. paper money] wear out down here very fast due to the humidity. They all become ‘rags’ in a short period. 1977 J. I. M. Stewart Madonna of Astrolabe i. 27 A fugitive rag put out by one of our junior members. 1978 Maledicta II. 50 There were several references to menstruous conditions or activities, found equally commonly in both male and female rest rooms (‘Sue Ellen's on the rag’ [etc.]). |
b. Similarly applied to persons.
| 1566 Drant Horace, Sat. ii. 8 The..rabblement Of ragges and raskalls all Be pensive. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 194 You Witch, you Ragge, you Baggage. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II, lxxvii, For not the lowest Ragge of Human race, But in a change will seeke to mend his place. 1875 Ruskin Fors Clav. lv, That rubbishy rag of a girl. 1882 Stevenson New Arab. Nts. (1884) 247 The poet was a rag of a man. |
c. Colloq. phrases. (
a) Miscellaneous, as
to drop the rag (
U.S.): to give the signal, to give notice;
to take the rag off (the bush or hedge) (chiefly
U.S.): to excel, to surpass everything or everyone; to take the palm. Also
to chew the rag: see
chew v. 3 g. (
b) Expressing anger, as
to get one's rag out and
varr.: to become or make angry;
to lose one's rag: to lose one's temper;
on the rag (
U.S.): angry, irritable.
| 1810 Norfolk (Va.) Gaz. 19 Sept. 2/3 This ‘takes the rag off the bush’ so completely, that we suppose we shall hear no more..about the Chesapeake business. 1837 Davy Crockett's Almanack Wild Sports of West I. iii. 40, I can take the rag off—frighten the old folks—astonish the natives—and beat the Dutch all to smash. 1868 Accrington Times 16 May 5/3 These three elegant flags ull teck th' rag off th' edge, un ull be mich admir'd bi all them ut's i' th' love o' fine arts. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad xx. 194 I've got to stay here, till the old man drops the rag and gives the word,―yes, sir, right here in this―country I've got to linger till the old man says Come! 1897 Halifax Courier 12 June, He's getten his rag drawn. 1901 W. N. Harben Westerfelt 3 That gal certainly takes the rag off'n the bush. 1902 ― Abner Daniel 264 You are a jim-dandy, young man... That's all there is about it. You take the rag off the bush. 1914 D. H. Lawrence Prussian Officer 185 An' that got your rag out, did it? 1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 116 Anger is expressed by such phrases as..he got shirty or hairy, he got his rag out, [etc.]. 1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock vii. vii. 329 ‘I've told you before how I won't stand...’ ‘You needn't get your rag out,’ the Boy said. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 178 They taunt the person [who is easily provoked]:..‘Don't lose your bait’ (‘rag’, ‘rise’, ‘wool’). 1960 L. Cooper Accomplices i. vi. 60 Roger was definitely shirty about that... He really got his rag out. 1969 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) I–II. 65 On the rag, in a bad mood.—College males, Arizona. 1975 Hill & Thomas Give Little Whistle x. 95 Allison lost his rag with me over two goals by Leicester's Mike Stringfellow, both of which he considered were offside. 1977 Rolling Stone 16 June 31/1 Time has Joan Baez on the rag. |
† 4. An alleged name for a ‘company’ of colts. (From
ragged a. 1.)
Obs. rare.
| c 1470 Hors, Shepe & G., etc. (Caxton 1479, Roxb. repr.) 31 A Stode of mares, a Ragg of coltes. 1486 Bk. St. Albans F vj, A Ragg of coltis or a Rake. |
5. A sharp or jagged projection.
rare.
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1720) 190 Cut off slanting above the Bud, with a very sharp knife, leaving no Rags. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xvii. ¶2 He Rubs every side of them on the Stone..to take off the small Rags that may happen on the Shanck of the Letter. Ibid. 388 When Letter Cast has a Bur on any of its edges, that Bur is called a Rag. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 536/1 File off the rags left by the saw. |
6. a. pl. A kind of moss (
muscus pulmonarius).
| 1758 Phil. Trans. L. 683 The people in Herefordshire, where this moss is called rags, dye their stockings of a brown colour with it. |
b. The fibrous pithy part of an orange, lemon, or other citrus fruit.
| 1895 U.S. Dept. Agric. Yearbk. 1894 196 The fruit resulting is usually of poor quality, inclined to be large and rough, with a thick rind and abundant rag. |
7. Short for
ragworm.
| 1881 St. James's Budget Aug. 12/1 Lastly, there are the two species of mud-worms, the ‘lug’ and the ‘rag’, equally nasty to look at. |
II. attrib. and
Comb. 8. General combs.
a. attributive, ‘pertaining to, containing, dealing in or with, rags’, as
rag-basket,
rag machinery,
rag market,
rag tank; ‘consisting, or made, of rags’, as
rag-baby,
rag-ball,
rag-carpet,
rag-carpeting,
rag doll,
rag-mop,
rag-paper,
rag-puppet,
rag-rug,
rag-torch,
rag-wick. Also
rag-carpeted,
rag-made adjs.| 1809 Deb. Congress U.S. 20 Jan. (1853) 1165 If they insist upon dressing up, in their own ways, their *rag-babies,..it is not for me to interfere. 1900 J. de F. Shelton Salt-Box House xvii. 143 Dolls were almost as mythical as fairies, but a ‘rag-baby’ was loved. |
| 1837 Southern Lit. Messenger III. 333 There was a snug little bed room..and a comfortable good-sized one for Charlotte, with a neat *rag carpet on it. 1904 M. E. Waller Wood-Carver of 'Lympus 72, I have begged Aunt Lize to take up the rag-carpet. |
| 1845 C. M. Kirkland Western Clearings 185, I led the young gentleman through the shop into the *rag-carpeted sitting-room. |
| 1813 Niles' Weekly Reg. III. 329/1, 24 yards *rag carpeting. |
| 1853 J. Ruskin Let. 17 Nov. in Wks. (1904) XII. p. xxxiv, She thought me so wise that anybody might make an idol of me..but when she got to talk to me, I turned out only a *rag doll after all. 1883 ‘Annie Thomas’ Mod. Housewife 116, I couldn't play with my rag doll here. 1972 M. Woodhouse Mama Doll xiii. 194 She slumped like a rag doll. |
| 1853 Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) II. 345 Improved *rag machinery. |
| 1885 Pall Mall G. 15 May 2/1 The finest *rag-made paper. |
| c 1645 Howell Lett. (1655) I. i. vii. 11 The Dog and *Rag Market is hard by. |
| 1831 For. Q. Rev. VIII. 380 *Rag-paper..was also invented in Germany some hundred and fifty years before. 1840 Carlyle Heroes (1858) 308 Those poor bits of rag-paper with black ink on them;—from the Daily Newspaper to the sacred Hebrew Book. |
| 1884 G. Meredith Diana xxii, How long do you keep me in this *rag-puppet's state of suspension? |
| 1923 E. Sitwell Bucolic Comedies 42 The witch's *rag-rug takes its flight. 1937 [see kewpie]. 1969 M. Harris Kind of Magic 30 By the fire stretched a lovely rag rug. 1973 J. Thomson Death Cap xiii. 177 Finch was reminded of his grandmother's bedroom... There had been the same kind of rag rug on the floor; the same marble-topped wash-hand stand. |
| 1894 Kipling in To-day 6 Jan. 5/1 And the doolie-bearers lit the noisome, dripping *rag-torches. |
| a 1918 G. Stuart 40 Yrs. on Frontier (1925) I. 31 A tin lamp holding about a quart of lard with a *rag wick in its spout which, when lighted, would cast a strong light for several yards. |
b. Objective or objective genitive, as
rag-boiler,
rag-collector,
rag-cutter,
rag-dealer,
rag-gatherer,
rag-grinder,
rag-picker,
rag-raker,
rag-seller,
rag-sifter,
rag-sorter,
rag-stitcher,
rag-washer;
rag-cleansing,
rag cutting,
rag-grinding,
rag-picking,
rag-sorting,
rag weaving.
Many of the combs. with agent-nouns (
rag-boiler, etc.) are applied to mechanical contrivances.
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 735/2 The *rag-boiler..is generally rotative, which gives a continual agitation to the contents. |
| 1873 Pract. Mag. I. 147 Sanitary arrangement adopted in *rag cleansing. |
| 1860 Chambers' Jrnl. 55/1 The 800 *rag-collecters who come under the notice of the police. 1865 Sat. Rev. 21 Jan. 74/2 His fame would have been by this time food for the rag-collectors. |
| 1860 Tomlinson Usef. Arts Ser. i, Paper ii, Another set of women, and sometimes children, called *rag-cutters. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Lab. II. 106/1 My informant, the *rag dealer. 1884 Cassell's Fam. Mag. Feb. 156/2 In New York..there are more than 800 rag-dealers. |
| 1704 Visits from Shades iii. 21 *Rag-gatherers, Cynderwomen, and Oyster Wenches wou'd disclaim her Acquaintance. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 139/1 The bone-pickers and rag-gatherers are all early risers. |
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. viii. 55, I, the dust-making, patent *Rag-grinder, get new material to grind down. |
| 1860 Chambers' Jrnl. XIV. 53/1 Rags and *Ragpickers in France. 1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 648/2, 30,000 rag pickers in Paris thrown out of employment. |
| 1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route ix. 101 It is not surprising to find the moper turning to *rag-picking if the notion comes to him to earn a living. 1966 National Observer (U.S.) 5 Dec. 15/3 There are ways to hold rag-picking down. One can, for example, specialize in $1 bills. |
| 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair i. i, None but..one of these *rag-rakers in dunghills..would have been up when thou wert gone abroad. |
| 1700 T. Brown Amusem. Ser. Com. 37, I..was mortally frighted..by the Impudent *Ragsellers. |
| 1887 British Med. Jrnl. 12 Feb. 343/1 *Rag-sorters' Disease. |
| 1853 Hickie tr. Aristoph. (1872) II. 574 You gossip-gleaner, and drawer of beggarly characters, and *rag-stitcher. |
c. Attrib. phrases, as
rag-and-bone gatherer,
rag-man,
rag merchant,
rag-picker;
rag shop,
rag warehouse;
rag-and-bottle man,
rag merchant,
rag-shop,
rag warehouse;
rag-and-tatter kind.
| 1901 B. S. Rowntree Poverty iii. 35 *Rag and bone gatherer. Married. One room. One child. |
| 1904 E. Nesbit Phoenix & Carpet xii. 236 An insane millionaire who amused himself by playing at being a *rag-and-bone man. 1960 ‘H. Carmichael’ Seeds of Hate xix. 157 Someone had sold them to a rag-and-bone man. |
| 1963 Times 6 Mar. 9/3 Four Soviet *rag and bone merchants have been sentenced to death in Azerbaijan for heading a gang which robbed the state of hundreds of thousands of roubles. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 139 The state of the shoes of the *rag and bone picker is a very important matter to him. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 99 The somewhat greasy heap of the literary rag-and-bone-picker is turned to gold by time. |
| 1895 C. M. Yonge Long Vacation xix. 188 Transforming the draperies from the aspect of a *rag-and-bone shop to a wonderful quaint and pretty fairy bower. 1939 W. B. Yeats Last Poems 31 In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart. |
| 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton I. v. 74 Public-houses, pawn⁓brokers' shops, *rag and bone warehouses, and dirty provision shops. |
| 1904 E. Nesbit Phœnix & Carpet xii. 229 It's the *rag-and-bottle man's day to-morrow... He will take it away. |
| a 1902 S. Butler Way of All Flesh (1903) lv. 254 A *rag and bottle merchant in..the last stage of dropsy. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 139 Anything that is saleable at the *rag-and-bottle or marine store shop. |
| 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. (1853) v. 35 A shop, over which was written, Krook, *Rag and Bottle Warehouse. |
| 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped 267 A fine, hang-dog, *rag-and-tatter..kind of a look. |
9. Special combs.:
rag-book, a book for children of which the pages are made of untearable cloth;
rag-box, (
a) a box in which rags are contained; (
b)
slang, the mouth;
rag-bush, a bush on which rags are fixed as a superstitious observance;
rag-carrier (
nonce-wd.), a contemptuous term for a valet or an ensign;
rag-castle (
nonce-wd.), a haunt of beggars;
rag-chawing,
-chewing vbl. ns., protracted discussion or argument (
cf. to chew the rag s.v. chew v. 3 g); also
attrib.;
rag content, the proportion of rag in paper;
freq. attrib.;
rag-dust (see
quot.);
rag end, the extreme and untidy end of something;
cf. fag-end 2;
rag engine, a machine for reducing rags to pulp in paper-making (hence
rag engineer);
† rag-footed a., ? badly shod (in
quot. fig.);
rag frame Mining (see
quot. 1964);
rag-front, in a carnival or circus: a fa{cced}ade or banner made of painted canvas;
rag-head N. Amer. slang, one who wears a turban or cloth about the hair;
rag-house, a building in which rags are stored or prepared for paper-making;
rag-knife, one of the knives in a rag-engine;
rag-lamp U.S., a lamp in which a rag serves as a wick;
† rag-manners, low, ill-bred behaviour (hence
rag-mannered);
rag-merchant, a dealer in rags; also (in contempt) a banker or draper;
rag-money (contemptuously), paper-money;
rag-offering, a rag or rags suspended or fixed at some spot (
esp. a well or standing stone) as an offering for the cure of disease, etc.;
rag running, whippet-racing;
ragsackman nonce-wd., a ragman bearing a sack;
rag-shop, a shop for rags and old clothes; also
fig.;
rag-store U.S. = rag-shop;
ragtop U.S. slang, a convertible car with a soft hood (see also
quot. 1971); also
attrib.;
rag trade, trade in rags; now
usu. applied to the manufacture and sale of women's garments;
freq. in humorous or ironical use; also
slang (see
quots.) and
attrib.;
rag-tree (
cf. rag-bush above);
rag turnsole, turnsole dye which is kept in linen rags impregnated with it;
rag-well (see
quots., and
cf. rag-bush,
-tree);
rag-woman, a woman who gathers or deals in rags (
cf. rag-man);
rag-wool, wool obtained by tearing rags to pieces. Also
rag-bag, -bolt, -fair, -man
1.
| 1905 Athenæum 16 Dec. 833/1 The improvements recently made in the productions called *rag-books are strikingly exemplified in Dog Toby. 1974 P. Dickinson Poison Oracle iv. 111 He had packed..rag books, fruit, favourite toys. |
| 1801 D. Wordsworth Jrnl. 12 Nov. (1941) I. 79, I put the *rag-boxes into order. 1890 Kipling in Scots Observer 28 June 149/1 Now all you recruities what's drafted to-day, You shut up your rag-box an' 'ark to my lay. |
| 1882 C. Elton Orig. Eng. Hist. 285 There is usually a ‘*rag-bush’ by the well on which bits of linen or worsted are tied as a gift to the spirit of the waters. 1893 E. S. Hartland in Folk-Lore IV. 453 Pin-wells and Rag-bushes are found all over the British Isles. |
| a 1754 Fielding New way to keep a Wife at Home i. iii, I must tug along the empty portmanteau of this shabby, no-pay ensign..What can a man expect who is but the *rag-carrier of a rag-carrier? |
| 1828 Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 215 A dream, and the very *Ragcastle of ‘Poosie-Nansie’. |
| 1885 Santa Fé Weekly New Mexican 1 Oct. 1/3 After a few minutes *rag-chawing a verdict of ‘came to his death from unknown causes’, is promptly rendered. 1904 ‘H. McHugh’ I'm from Missouri v. 66 The news of the proposed joint debate spread like wildfire, and it soon became patent that whoever won the rag-chewing contest would also win the election. 1937 G. Frankau More of Us xii. 130 Great work Lord Bubbles put in presently Over their teas and pastries and rag-chewing. 1976 Perkowski & Stral Joy of CB viii. 86 In the evening you can set up your rig at home for extended rag-chewing sessions. |
| 1930 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 7 Oct. 25/1 *Rag Content Paper Manufacturers. 1957 J. B. Calkin Witham's Mod. Pulp & Paper Making (ed. 3) ii. 20 Rag papers cover a considerable spread of products from 100 per cent rag to the so-called ‘rag content’ papers which are made from various percentages of wood and rag fibers. 1967 Karch & Buber Offset Processes xi. 479 The finer, longer-lasting paper, made from cotton and cloth clippings, is called ‘rag content’, or lately, ‘cotton content’ paper... Rag content is usually 25 percent, 50 percent, 75 percent, or 100 percent. 1976 Cincinnati Enquirer 16 Sept. a19/3 The documents and letters are as legible as the handwriting of their authors. The high rag content of the paper has preserved them. |
| 1864 Webster, *Rag-dust, fine particles of rags when torn thoroughly to pieces, used in making papier-maché. |
| 1917 E. Pound Lustra 192 And the booths Were scattered align, the *rag ends of the fair. |
| 1853 Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) II. 346 The improvement in paper making, for which T.W.W...obtained a patent in 1842, relate [sic] to the *rag engine. |
| 1885 Census Instruct., *Rag engineer. |
| 1606 W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall (1833) 33 Some *rag-footed resons that we must refute. |
| 1904 Eng. Dial. Dict., *Rag frame. 1920 Conquest Nov. 17/1 The stream is dammed and the sludge or slime settles, and is allowed to flow through launders which feed automatically-tilting tables of the most ingenious structure... These tables are called rag frames. 1964 A. Nelson Dict. Mining 358 Rag frame, a broad, slightly inclined wooden frame for the rough concentration of slimes. |
| 1926 Variety 29 Dec. 7/4 The outdoor show game with its ‘*rag front’, ‘silver men’, [etc.]. 1927 K. Nicholson Barker 150 Rag front, painted canvas banners. |
| 1921 Dialect Notes V. 111 *Raghead, a Hindu; any Asiatic. From the turbanned Asiatics who are common on the campus [of the University of California]. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 96 Raghead, black male who wears a scarf tied around his head to protect an expensive hairdo. 1975 Canadian Mag. 8 Mar. 6/1 East Indians are called ‘rag-heads’ if they continue to wear the traditional turban of the Sikh religion. |
| 1860 Tomlinson Useful Arts Ser. i. Paper ii, The rags..are conveyed in baskets to the *rag-house. |
| 1889 ‘Mark Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xlii. 531 He had re-instituted the ancient *rag-lamp. 1893 ― in Cosmopolitan Nov. 59/2 The house was shut up tight and the rag lamps lighted. |
| 1731 Gentl. Mag. I. 350 Why charge ye *Rag-manners thus upon the clergy? |
| 1698 Collier Immor. Stage v. §3. 220 This Young Lady swears, talks smut, and is..just as *rag-manner'd as Mary the Buxsome. |
| 1690 Lond. Gaz. No. 2597/4 At the same Prices they have hitherto Paid the *Rag-Merchants. 1821 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) 17 The country rag-merchants have now very little to do. They have no discounts. What they have out, they owe; it is so much debt. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxvi, The shoe-vamper and the rag-merchant display their goods. 1862 F. G. Trafford (Mrs. J. Riddell) Too Much Alone 124 (Hoppe) Rag-merchant,..the above expression does not refer to a marine-store dealer, but simply to a dealer in Manchester goods, who is frequently thus designated in the City. |
| 1878 N. Amer. Rev. CXXVI. 166 The complete disuse and actual repulsion of silver by *rag-money. 1893 Archæol. æliana XVI. 463 Squibs and skits regarding rag-money were issued. |
| 1777 Brand Pop. Antiq. 85 These *Rag-offerings are the Reliques of the then prevailing popular Superstition. 1892 Folk-Lore III. 89 The geographical distribution of rag-offerings coincides with the existence of monoliths and dolmens. |
| 1927 Daily Express 25 May 12 A little more foresight and push..might have made ‘*rag running’ a very popular entertainment. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 429 A sackshouldered ragman bars his path. He steps left, *rag⁓sackman left. |
| 1829 P. Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 643 ‘It's the Bank of Ireland,’ said an Irish swell, ‘to a *rag shop.’ 1851–61 Mayhew Lond. Labour III. 207 (Hoppe) Writing a squib for a ragshop. 1865 E. C. Clayton Cruel Fortune I. 143 A ragshop..occupied the basement story. 1894 G. B. Shaw Let. 23 Apr. (1965) I. 427 You have a perfect rag shop of old ideas in your head. 1903 ― Man & Superman p. xiii, His profligacy and his dare-devil airs have gone the way of his sword and mandoline into the rag shop of anachronisms and superstitions. |
| 1869 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abroad xvi. 157 Filthy dens on first floors, with *rag stores in them (the heaviest business in the Faubourg is the chiffonier's). 1882 Rag store [see junk store s.v. junk n.2 5]. |
| 1955 Sun (Baltimore) 27 Aug. B11/1 Every American manufacturer with a ‘*ragtop’ in his line will be represented. 1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 127 Rag top, 1. a low-sided trailer with metal bows over the top to support a tarpaulin... 2. an open top van with a tarpaulin covering over the top. 1974 D. Westheimer Olmec Head xvii. 235 Get a ragtop trailer. That's one with a fabric cover instead of a solid top. 1976 Springfield (Mass.) Daily News 22 Apr. 4/3 (caption) The last U.S. built convertible, a Cadillac Eldorado, rolls along the assembly at the General Motors' plant in Detroit Wednesday. It ended an era for ragtops that began 74 years ago. 1979 T. Gifford Hollywood Gothic (1980) ix. 100 Eddie's ragtop had a small tear that let the rain draw a bead on the back of the seat. |
| 1843 Marryat M. Violet xxvii, There is in Galveston a new invented trade, called ‘the *rag-trade’..I refer to the purchasing of false bank-notes, which are..palmed upon any stranger suspected of having money. 1875 Pract. Mag. V. 221 Parliamentary Reports on the Rag Trade of Foreign Countries. 1890 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang (1897), Rag trade,..the tailoring business. Also the mantle-making trade. 1907 Daily Chron. 31 Dec. 8/4 They do an enormous business with the ‘rag trade’—that is to say, the wholesale drapers, silk mercers, hosiers, and so on. 1938 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 June 405/2 The few years which she spent as fashion-goods buyer in what is known to its members as ‘the rag trade’. 1957 J. Coates Ship of Glass 241, I know that line. It's going to be fashionable... Forgive the digression but I'm in the rag trade. 1967 Listener 2 Feb. 168/3 These delicate and puzzling effects..were seized upon with glee by rag-trade designers and window dressers. 1975 R. Butler Where All Girls are Sweeter i. 2 I'd sold her to a man in the rag-trade. |
| 1880 M. J. Walhouse in Jrnl. Anthrop. Inst. IX. 106 The Christmas Trees..are but changed survivals of the Pagan *rag-trees. |
| 1777 Brand Pop. Antiq. 85 A Well in the road to Benton..called The *Rag Well. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Ragwells, certain springs in the neighbourhood, held sacred in former days for curing diseases... Rags from the garments of those who recovered, were torn off and hung up as offerings to the patron saint of the well. |
| 1672 Wycherley Love in a Wood v. ii, The *rag-women, and cinder-women, have better luck than I. 1723 Lond. Gaz. No. 6175/5 Ellen Weeb,..Rag-Woman. |
Add:
[9.] rag-out [
cf. to get one's rag out, sense 3 c above], in the British coal industry, a sudden, short, unofficial strike;
= wildcat strike s.v. wild cat n. 4 c.
| 1955 Times 9 May 4/4 ‘*Rag-outs’ or short, impulsive strikes were common. About seven weeks ago there was a ‘rag-out’ of packers at Markham Main. 1987 Daily Tel. 31 Jan. 2/8 These stoppages, which are heat of the moment walkouts—or what they call in the industry the ‘rag-out’—had affected almost all Britain's 125 mines apart from 15. |
▪ II. rag, n.2 (
ræg)
Also 3
ragghe, 5–8
ragge, 9
ragg.
[Of obscure etym.; original connexion with prec. seems unlikely, but the idea of ‘ragged’ stone would naturally suggest itself in later use.] 1. A piece (mass or bed) of hard, coarse or rough stone (
cf. 2).
Obs. exc. dial. (see
quot. 1877).
| 1278 Bursar's Acc. Merton Coll. (Parker Dict. Archit.), Pro ij magnis lapidibus qui vocantur ragghes. 1375–6 Abingdon Abb. Acc. (1892) 29 Pro scapulacione xxxij pedes de ragis ij.s. viij.d. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 467 Otherwhiles they meet with rocks of flint and rags, as wel in vndermining forward, as in sinking pits downeright. 1609 ― Amm. Marcell. xxxi. x. 417 Taking up their standing upon the craggie rockes and ragges round about. 1769 De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. I. 158 A Kind of Paving Stone, called Kentish-rags. 1778 Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2) s.v. Nutfield, A metalline kind of substance (that looks like cast-iron, and is called ragges) much esteemed hereabouts for paving. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Rag, a whetstone. |
b. A large coarse roofing-slate.
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 622 Patent slate..was originally made from Welsh rags. 1842 Gwilt Archit. 501 Welsh rags are next in goodness [to Westmorland slates]. 1865 J. T. F. Turner Slate Quarries 15 A large, rough kind, of varying dimensions, having one side uncut. These are termed ‘rags’, from their ragged appearance. |
2. The name given in various parts of England to certain kinds of stone, differing greatly in structure, but chiefly of a hard coarse texture, and breaking up in flat pieces several inches thick.
The best-known varieties are
coral-rag,
Kentish rag (see kentish), and
Rowley rag, a basaltic rock from the Rowley Hills in Staffordshire. With
quot. 1751
cf. quot. 1877 in 1, and
quot. 1812 under
ragstone 1.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 318 First thy grount assay. If hit be ragge or roche, on hit thow foote In depth a foote or too. 1606 Holland Sueton. 230 He laid foundations of piles..and hewed rocks of most hard flint and rag. 1647 Sanderson Serm. (1681) II. xv. 218 A little Diamond may be more worth than a whole Quarry of Ragge. 1681 Phil. Collect. XII. 90 Made of one of the most common sort of Stone, viz. of a course Rag, or Milstone-grit. 1751 J. Bartram Observ. Trav. Pennsylv. etc. 30 A steep hill side, full of excellent flat whet-stones of all sizes... I brought one home..it is as fine as the English rag, but of a blackish colour. 1837 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 72/1 At a depth varying from 5 to 7 feet from the surface, is the first bed of stone called rag; this is a coarse tough stone, rising in large layers from 6 to 9 inches thick. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iii. 344 Hornblende, rag and trap and tuff. |
▪ III. rag, n.3 University slang.
(
ræg)
[f. rag v.2] An act of ragging;
esp. an extensive display of noisy disorderly conduct, carried on in defiance of authority or discipline. Now
usu. a programme of satirical revues, frivolous stunts, etc., organized by students to raise money for charities. Also
attrib. Known in Oxford for some years before date of first
quot.| 1864 H. Sidgwick in A. & E. M. Sidgwick Henry Sidgwick (1906) ii. 111 They enjoy beer, tobacco and students' ‘rags’. 1885 Punch 5 Dec. 273/1 We had a good rag when he was away. 1892 Isis No. 13. 88/2 The College is preparing for a good old rag to-night. 1894 Wilkins & Vivian Green bay-tree I. 275 It was the usual senseless ‘rag’ in which Pimlico and his friends were wont to indulge at their convivial gatherings. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 25 Apr. 3/3 It [sc. Sheridan's ‘Critic’] has been left alone of late except for an occasional ‘rag’ performance at a charity matinée. 1924 Glasgow Herald 26 Feb. 9/7 Liberals played up skilfully in their interrogative zest, and the P.M.G...found the ‘rag’ more embarrassing than any miners' indiscipline. 1930 J. Buchan Castle Gay iv. 60, I do not wish to have my name associated with an undergraduate—‘rag’, I think is the word. 1946 L. P. Hartley Sixth Heaven iii. 76 He organised one or two rags..of the more painful kind. 1958 Oxford Mail 15 Feb. 1/1 A 1902 James and Browne vintage car removed from the Imperial College, South Kensington, London, by students of Southampton University for their ‘rag’ day. 1974 Times 4 Nov. 14/6 The university's Rag Week..[with] the 24-hour piano-playing marathon..and the joke kidnapping of the president of the athletic union. |
▪ IV. † rag, n.4 Obs. rare.
In 8
ragg.
(See
quot.)
Perh. a chain-pump, worked by a
rag-wheel, sometimes called a ‘rag-and-chain pump’.
| 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. Q ij, Those common Pumps used in the Mines, such as Raggs, Churns, Sweaps, Forces, for drawing of Water, these are so well known to every one that it is..needless to describe them. |
▪ V. rag, n.5 orig. U.S. (
ræg)
[Of obscure origin: perh. f. ragged a.1 3; see ragtime.] 1. A dance or ball;
esp. a variety of dance performed to ragtime music. ?
Obs.| 1896 Dialect Notes I. 423 Rag, dance, ball. ‘We can go to rags.’ 1899 Musical Rec. (Boston) 1 Apr. 158/1 The negroes call their clog-dancing, ‘ragging’, and the dance, a ‘rag’. 1914 ‘High Jinks, Jr.’ Choice Slang 17 Rag, one of the newer gyrations now included under the category of dancing. 1923 Dialect Notes V. 218 Rag,..dance. |
2. A musical composition written in ragtime, a ragtime tune.
| 1897 W. H. Krell (song-title) The Mississippi rag two-step: the first rag-time two-step ever written. 1897 T. Turpin (song-title) Harlem rag: two step. 1916 Variety 25 Aug. 8 Ash..is seen daily on the streets playing rag dance numbers. 1922 T. S. Eliot Waste Land ii. 21 But O O O O that Shakespeherian Rag—It's so elegant So intelligent. 1947 G. Sklar Two Worlds J. Truro iii. 24 They listened to rags and stomps, to fox trots and marches. 1957 G. Lascelles in S. Traill Concerning Jazz 77 Few of the original rags were written, and those which were, had often no bass part added beyond the conventional harmonies. 1977 New Yorker 19 Sept. 96/2 She would play some Menotti, Barber, and Gershwin, a piece by Paul Tufts, a Seattle composer, and some Scott Joplin rags. |
3. attrib. and
Comb. in sense ‘ragtime’, as
rag music,
rag musician,
rag rhythm;
rag-flavoured adj.| 1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene vi. 103 Rag-flavoured numbers also became part of the staple repertoire of New Orleans jazz. |
| 1934 C. Lambert Music Ho! ii. 95 The Rag-time, like the piano Rag Music, is an abstract pattern created out of the raw material of certain syncopated devices. 1955 R. Davies in J. McCarthy Jazzbk. 1955 37 They left the Crescent City..intending to disseminate through the dance halls of Chicago the rag music they had created. |
| 1976 R. Sanders in D. Villiers Next Year in Jerusalem 198 One of the great Negro rag musicians, Ben Horney, a composer and singer. |
| 1923 R. H. Myers Mod. Music 65 Darius Milhaud has sought, by the use of rag-rhythms, to evoke the exotic yet intensely human atmosphere of the Bar and its inhabitants. |
▪ VI. rag, v.1 (
ræg)
Also 7
ragge.
[f. rag n.1] 1. trans. † a. To tear in pieces.
Obs. b. To make ragged; to tear in a ragged manner.
| c 1440 York Myst. xxxvi. 120 On roode am I ragged and rente, Þou synfull sawle, for thy sake. 1521 Fisher Serm. agst. Luther Wks. (1876) 322 Martyn luther..so malycyously contemneth and setteth at nought and all to raggeth the heed of chrystes chyrche. a 1603 Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1645) 331 The other testimony of Augustine, wherewith they have garded or rather ragged their margent. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 117/2 There was a burr left at the hinder end of the thread which ‘ragged’ the wood. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman 246 The steel of the drum ragging me sideways. |
2. intr. † a. To become ragged.
Obs. rare.
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 13 The woll of such sheepe will immediately beginne to rise, ragge, and fall of. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) II. 312 Leather, thus..tanned,..will prove serviceable which otherwise will quickly fleet and rag out. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xvi, If they do not [fit exactly], the Mold will be sure to Rag. |
b. To sort needles by means of a rag.
| 1861 Wynter Soc. Bees 189 Little children ‘rag’ with inconceivable rapidity. |
c. U.S. slang. to rag out, to dress well.
| 1865 ‘Artemus Ward’ Trav. xi. 92 We air goin' right straight through in these here clothes,..We ain't goin' to rag out till we get to Nevady. |
▪ VII. rag, v.2 dial. and
slang. (
ræg)
[Of obscure origin: cf. bally-, bullyrag.] 1. trans. a. To scold, rate, talk severely to. Also, to examine or question.
| 1739 Proc. Sessions of Peace June 107/2 On Monday Night Bird and Clark came to their House to ragg (scold) her Grandfather for what he had talk'd of, concerning them. a 1796 Pegge Derbicisms Ser. ii, ‘To rag a person’, to scold and abuse him. 1808 in Jamieson. 1878– In dial. glossaries (Cumb., Hants., Som., etc.). 1895 F. Anstey Lyre & Lancet vii. 70 You..used to rag me for not readin' enough. 1899 T. M. Ellis Three Cat's-eye Rings 116 She'll keep her head, and I hope rag 'em well. 1908 A. S. M. Hutchinson Once aboard Lugger i. iv. 47 Not one had ever worked. Each had been ‘ragged’ on a subject of which he knew absolutely nothing. |
b. To annoy, tease, torment;
spec. in
University slang, to annoy or assail in a rough or noisy fashion; to create wild disorder in (a room).
Cf. rag n.3| 1808 Jamieson, To rag, to rally. 1877– In dial. glossaries (Yks., Linc., etc.). 1894 Hall Caine Manxman v. iv. 293 Nothing much—nothing to rag you at all. 1891 Spectator 3 Jan. 3/2 The revellers went round and ‘ragged’ several men in their rooms. 1897 J. Wells Oxford 111 A..man..was so trying that, according to Oxford custom, the future Archbishop proceeded to ‘rag’ him. 1956 ‘C. Blackstock’ Dewey Death vii. 156 You're always ragging me, and I know you think I'm an ass. 1975 Times 30 Dec. 4/2 The President is now ragged mercilessly on national television, by talk show hosts, by comics, and in cartoons. |
| absol. 1896 Isis No. 112. 100/2 The difficulty of ‘ragging’ with impunity has long been felt. |
2. intr. To wrangle
over a subject.
| 1889 ‘J. S. Winter’ Mrs. Bob (1891) 275 If it is constantly discussed and ragged over between us, we shall have only a miserable life. |
▸
trans.to rag the puck.
a. Ice Hockey. To keep possession of the puck by dribbling and skilful stick-handling as a delaying or time-wasting tactic.
| 1926 Manitoba Free Press 25 Jan. 14 Cleghorn chose to rag the puck in an effort to kill time. 1963 A. O'Brien Headline Hockey 29 Replacements were few and speed lagged at the end or when players ‘ragged’ the puck in mid-ice to kill off penalties. 1981 C. Smythe If you can't beat 'em in Alley vi. 124 He won the face-off and ragged the puck for a whole minute while the Boston team chased him around the ice. 2001 Sports Illustr. (Electronic ed.) 23 Apr. Detroit Red Wings center Sergei Fedorov basked in the noise at Joe Louis Arena last Saturday, ragging the puck, playing keepaway on a penalty kill against the overmatched Los Angeles Kings. |
b. Canad. In extended use: to waste time intentionally; to prevaricate.
| 1979 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 31 Dec. 7/1 For Premier William Davis and his Cabinet the past year has been a bit like the Leafs in the third period with a one-goal lead... They have been ragging the puck, playing defensively to kill time. 1994 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 31 May b1 The old legal trick of ragging the puck and waiting for the other side to run out of money doesn't work so well here. 2001 Toronto Star (Electronic ed.) 5 Apr. We had an agreement among all governments, we just follow that plan that calls for more federal money, let's focus on that and just sort of rag the puck through the next couple of years. |
▪ VIII. rag, v.3 (
ræg)
[Of obscure origin: cf. rack v.3] trans. To break up (ore) with a hammer, preparatory to sorting.
| 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts II. 76 In spalling such portions as have been ragged, an additional quantity of refuse should be excluded. Ibid. 78 After these stones are washed they are ragged. |
▪ IX. † rag, v.4 Sc. Obs. rare—1.
(Meaning obscure.)
| a 1585 Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 790 Buttrie bag, fill knag! thou will rag with thy fellows. |
▪ X. rag, v.5 orig. U.S. (
ræg)
[f. rag n.5] 1. intr. To play, sing, or dance in ragtime. Also
const. it.
| 1905 Dialect Notes III. 152 Rag,..to dance. ‘Everybody rag as pooty (puti) as you can.’ 1923 R. D. Paine Comrades of Rolling Ocean viii. 137 They were dancing on the pavement of the public market or ragging it on the smooth white streets. 1928 F. Scott Fitzgerald in Sat. Even. Post 29 Sept. 118/3 Oh, listen!.. Do you know how to rag? 1946 B. Treadwell Big Bk. Swing 125/1 Rag, to play the blues and jazz. 1971 C. C. Adams Boontling 237 Rag, to dance in ‘ragtime’ form, considered indecent in valley dance halls in the Boontling era. |
2. trans. To convert (a melody, etc.) into ragtime; to play ragtime music on (an instrument).
| 1917 Lit. Digest 25 Aug. 28/2 The jazz bands take popular tunes and rag them to death to make jazz. 1922 H. L. Foster Adventures Trop. Tramp v. 47 The camp victrola was broken and..I was the only man in camp that could rag the piano. 1949 R. Blesh Shining Trumpets viii. 181 The violin played the melody straight while Bolden ragged it. 1956 G. P. Kurath in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 108/1 The slaves ragged and syncopated their clog dances. 1960 [see anti-1 2 c]. |
▪ XI. rag var. raga.