▪ I. jag, n.1
(dʒæg)
Forms: 5–7 iagge, (6 iaggue), 6–7 iagg, iag, 7– jagg, jag.
[Jag. n. and vb. are found from c 1400. From the uncertain date of the Morte Arthur (MS. c 1440) in which the vb. first occurs, it does not appear whether the n. or the vb. is the primary word. The n., with the adj. jagged, but not the vb., is in the Promptorium c 1440. The formation appears to be onomatopœic; in some senses it coincides with dag n.1 and n.3, dag v.1 and v.2, and in some approaches tag and rag.
There are no cognates in Teutonic or Romanic, and the Celtic gàg ‘split, rent, fissure’, sometimes compared, cannot (in our present knowledge) be connected phonetically. It is possible that the two notions of ‘cut or slash’, and ‘pierce’, ought to be referred to separate words (cf. dag v.1 and v.2); but in our ignorance of the facts, they are here left together. In the vb. the sense ‘pierce, prick’, is essentially northern, and is the only sense known in Sc.]
1. One of the dags or pendants made by cutting the edge of a garment, as was done for ornament in the 14th and 15th cents.; also, a slash or cut made in the surface of a garment, to show a different colour underneath.
| 14.. W. Staunton Vis. Patrick's Purg. 1409 (MS. Reg. 17 B xliii. lf. 136 b), I saw summe there with colors of gold abowte here neckis,..summe with mo iagges on here clothis than hole cloth. Ibid. lf. 141 Thilk serpentes, snakes, todes, and other wormes, ben here iaggis and daggis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 255/2 Iagge, or dagge of a garment, fractillus. 1530 Palsgr. 233/2 Iagge a cuttyng, chicqueture. 1552 Huloet, Iagge of a garmente, lacinia. 1573–80 Baret Alv. I 5 A Iag, garse, or cut, Incisûra, Lacinia. 1577 Harrison England ii. vii. (1877) i. 170 What should I saie of their [women's] doublets.. full of iags and cuts. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 11 To the end, that these inner garments, thus beset with long iagges and purfles, might shine againe with varietie of threads seene quite through. 1613 T. Milles tr. Mexia's, etc. Treas. Anc. & Mod. T. I. 960/1 To wear such rich garments, Imbroydered with Veluet, in a thousand iagges and cuts. 1715 tr. Pancirollus' Rerum Mem. II. xxiv. 203 Severus never wore any Garment of Velvet, which we now see daily tatter'd into Iags, even by the meaner sort. |
† b. An attached pendant or fringe. Obs.
| 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 143 Whereupon they sowe iags of partie-coloured silke, and upon every iag a little ball or button of silke, whereby the saide hanging may..be fastened unto a wall. 1606 Holland Sueton. 19 He..who used to goe in his Senatours purple studded robe, trimmed with a iagge or frindge at the sleeve hand. Ibid. 186 As he was rising up, first the hem (margin Iag, welt or fringes) or edge of his Gowne stuck to the seate. |
2. A shred of cloth; in pl. Rags, tatters. Also transf. and fig. A scrap, fragment. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. i. 113 Pluckyng from eche of their garmentes a litle iaggue. 1637 Heywood Royall King iii. i. Wks. 1874 VI. 39 Wee have store, of ragges; plenty, of tatters; aboundance, of jagges. 1658 Cleveland Rustick Rampant Wks. (1687) 415 To preserve a Shred, or jagg of an incertain ragged Estate. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams i. ¶146 The latter of the two letters,..whereof..some Jaggs will suffice to be recited. 1800 M. Edgeworth Belinda (1830) II. xxiv. 156, I saw..black jags of paper littering the place. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., Jags, tatters. |
3. A protruding bristle, hair, or fibre; a hairy, bristly, or thread-like outgrowth or projection. Now said dial. of the beard of an ear of corn; in Sc. a prickle, as of a thorn or furze.
| 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 167 b, Some dagswaynys haue longe thrummys and iagges on bothe sydes: some but on one [cf. Cath. Januensis s.v. Fractillus, ‘fractillus dicitur etiam villus in tapeto vel aliâ a veste villosâ’]. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. C iij a, The roote..beneth it hath many yealowe iagges or berdes lyke heres. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. iii. (1623) F j, First take away all those staring strawes, twigs, and other offensiue jagges that are fast in the Hiue, making them in-side as smooth as may be. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 556 It shall thus lye in the coutch till you see it begin to sprout and put forth little white jags or strings which is called the coming of the malt. 1683 A. Snape Anat. Horse i. xxvi. (1686) 54 Then parting into many jags as it were, they [ligaments] end near the clitoris. 1880 Jefferies Gt. Estate 8 The despised oats were coming out in jag..in jag means the spray-like drooping awn of the oat. |
4. A sharp projection or tooth on an edge or surface; one of the teeth, denticulations, or divisions of a leaf; a sharp or rugged point of rock, etc.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. xxxii. 45 The thirde kinde [of Stork's Bill]..hath..small leaues, cut as it were in little iagges or peeces. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 666 Their other feet are broader, with many jags and notches like a saw. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Papilio, [They] have one of the jaggs of the wing far extended beyond the rest of the verge. 1831 Blackw. Mag. XXX. 129 The cliffs touch the clouds with their jags. 1892 H. Hutchinson Fairway Island 98 Clutching an outstanding jag of the rock. |
5. A jagged piece of metal fitted on the end of the ramrod of a rifle, and used, with some tow or rag fastened to it, to clean the barrel; now superseded by the ‘pull-through’.
| 1844 Regul. & Ord. Army 96 note, One Ball-drawer, One Brass Jagg, to each Rifle. 1879 Martini-Henry Rifle Exerc. 61 Screw the jag on to the cleaning rod, wrap a damp rag round the jag, so as to cover it. 1880 Daily Tel. 6 May 5/8 A private..shot himself..with a blank cartridge and the jag of his ramrod. 1890 Rep. Magazine Rifle §19 in Times 6 Dec. 15/4 The jag in the Martini-Henry rifle is an extra part, and has to be screwed on to the rod. |
6. ‘A barb or dovetail which resists retraction.’
| 1875 in Knight Dict. Mech. [Cf. jog.] |
7. Sc. A prick with anything sharp.
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. ix, Affliction may gie him a jagg, and let the wind out o' him. Mod. Sc. A tailor gave an elephant a jag with his needle. His bare legs were a' jags wi' rinnin' through the whuns. |
8. attrib. and Comb., as jag-armed a. armed with jags or prickles; jag-bolt: see quot. (hence jag-bolt v., to fasten with a jag-bolt); jag-spear, a barbed spear; jag-tail (see quot.).
| 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 73 *Jag-arm'd nettles soon, I trow, The passers-by shall sting. |
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §42 note, *Jag or bearded bolts or spikes, are such as with a chissel have a beard raised upon their angles. |
| Ibid. §48 The uprights were also *jag-bolted and trenailed to one another. |
| 1864 in M{supc}Lennan Prim. Marriage (1865) 304 Their long *jag-spears. |
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. ii. 347 Your Bait, which should be a Red Worm, or a Worm called the *Jag-tail, which is of a pale flesh Colour, with a yellow Jag on his Tail. |
▪ II. jag, n.2 dial. and U.S.
Forms: 6–9 jagg, 9 Sc. jaug, 8– jag.
[Origin unknown.]
1. a. A load (usually a small cart-load) of hay, wood, etc.
| 1597 1st Pt. Return fr. Parnass. ii. i. 747 You shall have my carte to carrie home a iagg of haye when you wonn. 1636 Plymouth Col. Rec. (1855) I. 40 The quantity of two loade or jaggs of hey at the Iland Creeke. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 73/1 A Jagg of Hay is a small Load of Hay. 1700 in Sir J. Cullum Hist. Hawsted, etc. (1813) Voc. s.v., Carried the widow Smith one jagg of thorns—12s. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Jag, an indefinite quantity, but less than a load, of hay or corn in the straw. 1828 Craven Dial., Jag, a large cart load of hay. In Cheshire, however,..jag or jagg means a parcel, a small load of hay or corn. a 1862 Thoreau Cape Cod x. (1894) 326 Their companion a cow, their wealth a jag of drift-wood. 1893 Essex Rev. II. 125. |
b. A load for the back; a pedlar's wallet.
(According to Jamieson, A leather bag or wallet; a pocket; a saddle-bag.)
| 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., Jag, a parcel or load of any thing, whether on a man's back, or in a carriage. Norf. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's ii, There's nae room for bags or jaugs here. |
c. As much liquor as a man can carry; a ‘load’ of drink. Also, a drinking bout; the state or a period of being drunk. dial. and colloq.
| 1678 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Proverbs (ed. 2) 87 Proverbiall Periphrases of one drunk... He has a jagg or load. 1872 J. Glyde Norfolk Garland i. 149 He has got his jag, i.e., as much drink as he can fairly carry. 1891 Pall Mall G. 15 Sept. 6/3 A ‘saccharine jag’ appears to be the latest thing in the way of Yankee intoxication. 1892 Voice (N.Y.) 4 Aug., Others with the most picturesque ‘jags’ on, hardly able to keep their feet. 1894 [see gin v.3]. 1895 N.Y. Dramatic News 26 Oct. 7/2 An ability to acquire a ‘jag’ in a wonderfully short space of time and with a single drink. 1904 [see hang-over 2]. 1921 E. Wallace Law Four Just Men iv. 112 He had been on a jag the night before and had finished up in what he called an opium house. 1924 [see crook v.1 1 d]. 1934 Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves xix. 250, I took the whole thing as a great compliment, proud to feel that any drink from my cellars could have produced such a majestic jag. 1966 Listener 28 Apr. 619/1 Sid Chaplin's Saturday Saga, the account of two miners on a memorable jag. |
d. transf. and fig. A period of indulgence in a particular pastime, emotion, interest, etc.; = fit n.2 4 a; freq. with defining word prefixed, as crying jag; spec. (see quot. 1946). colloq. (orig. U.S.).
| 1913 J. London Valley of Moon (1914) i. xv. 119 ‘Aw, it's only one of his cryin' jags,’ Mary said. 1924 P. Marks Plastic Age xix. 213 One had a ‘crying jag’. Ibid. xxii. 254 A girl got a ‘laughing jag’ and shrieked with idiotic laughter. 1933 S. Howard Alien Corn iii. 97 Isn't seventy-one fifty cheap for the jag I've got tonight? 1945 S. Lewis Cass Timberlane (1946) xlix. 347 Now you're beginning to get over your love-jag, maybe you can see that Jinny is as..tricky and grabbing as a monkey. 1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues 375 Jag, a state of extreme stimulation, produced by marihuana or some other stimulant. 1958 Spectator 4 July 15/2 The British public are on an enormous clean-clothes jag. 1972 New Yorker 26 Aug. 38/3 A neurotic habit..may be overt, like a temper tantrum or a crying jag. 1973 Times Lit. Suppl. 8 June 631/3 The Kennedy years..launched the Americans on a jag of hope and fear. |
2. A train of trucks in a coal-mine.
| 1900 Daily News 9 Feb. 3/1, I crept rapidly alongside the moving ‘jag’. Ibid. 14 Feb. 3/1 The work of the driver is to hook the pony to the ‘jags’ or trains of loaded little trucks, marshalled by the putters. |
3. A portion or quantity; a ‘lot’. U.S.
| 1834 C. A. Davis Major Downing's Lett. 168 (Bartlett) As there was very little money in the country, the bank bought a good jag on't in Europe. 1888 Missouri Republican (Farmer Amer.), One broker..caught a jag of 2,000 or 3,000 shares. 1890 Boston Jrnl. 10 May 2/2 Farmer (to new hand)—‘Hans, you may give the roan critter a jag of feed’. |
▪ III. jag, v.1
(dʒæg)
Forms: 5–7 iagge, (5 iogge), 8 jagg, 6– jag.
[See jag n.1]
† 1. trans. To pierce with a sharp instrument, to stab. Obs. exc. as in b.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2087 Sir Loth..Enjoynede with a geaunt, and jaggede hym thorowe. Ibid. 2891, 2893 Thorowe a jerownde schelde he jogges hym thorowe,..Ioyntes and gemows, he jogges in sondyre. 1507 Dunbar Sevin Deidly Sinnis 41 Sum iaggit vthiris to the heft, With knyvis that scherp cowd scheir. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 283 First, turn up his upper lip, and jagge it lightly with a launcet, so as it may bleed. a 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster v. iv, Jag him, Gentlemen. 1809 Southey in Q. Rev. II. 37 He saw them jag the cocoa-shell for the purpose. |
b. Sc., north. Eng., and U.S. dial. To prick with something sharp, as with a spur or thorn.
| a 1700 in J. Watson Coll. Poems (1706) I. 39 (Jam.) He bade her ride, And with a spur did jag her side. 1819 Blackw. Mag. V. 640* May ne'er a thorn hae power to jag the hide upon his shins. 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour I. 286 He now whipped and jagged the old nag, as if intent on catching the hounds. 1883 C. F. Smith Southernisms in Trans. Amer. Philol. Soc. 50, Jag, ‘to prick or pierce with a thorn or any sharp-pointed thing’. Common in various parts of the South. 1893 in Northumbld. Gloss. |
† c. absol. or intr. To pierce, thrust, prick. Obs.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2909 Gyawntis forjustede with gentille knyghtes Thorowe gesserawntes of Iene jaggede to the herte. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. Prol. 99 Sum garris wyth a ged staf to iag throw blak jakkis. |
2. trans. To slash or pink (a garment, etc.) by way of ornament.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 905 A jupone of Ierodyne jaggede in schredez. 1530 Palsgr. 589/1, I jagge or cutte a garment, je chicquette. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 139 To what ende doe wee iagge and gash the garmentes? 1708 Motteux Rabelais iv. lii. (1737) 211 His Journey-men..did jagg it and pink it at the bottom. 1839 Bailey Festus v. (1852) 57 Like a black block of marble, jagged with white. |
3. To make indentations in the edge or surface of; to make ragged or uneven by cutting or tearing; to make rugged or bristling. to jag in, to indent with cuts.
| 1568 Turner Herbal iii. 5 Angelica hath leves somethinge lyke lovage, but not so far iagged in. 1615 tr. De Monfart's Surv. E. Indies 22 When they take any prisoner, who by chance hath his garments cut or iag'd, they say hee did teare them of purpose. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. viii. 292 Jagged and torn by the impetuous assaults of Waves. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. ii. 699 The ground..Was jagg'd with frost or heap'd with glazed snow. 1764 Grainger Sugar Cane iii. 243 Three long rollers..With iron cas'd, and jagg'd with many a cogg. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 26 May 5/2 A doctor was called, who said the man had jagged the windpipe. |
4. trans. To dovetail or join by ‘letting in’. U.S.
| 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 23/1 The ribs..run around full length, except at the trunk where they will be jagged into the piece holding the trunk to the keel. |
5. Naut. To lay in long bights, as a rope, and tie with stops. U.S.
▪ IV. jag, v.2 dial.
[f. jag n.2]
trans. To carry in a cart, or on a pack-horse. Hence ˈjagging.
| 1747 [see jagger2 2]. 1847–78 Halliwell, Jag, to carry hay, &c. West. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Jag, to carry hay, &c. in a cart. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Jagging, a mode of carrying ore to the reduction-works in bags on horses, mules, etc. 1887 S. Chesh. Gloss., Jag, to cart. |
▪ V. jag
Sc. var. jog, joug.