scraggling, ppl. a.
(ˈskræg(ə)lɪŋ)
[As if f. *scraggle vb. (f. scrag n.1 and n.2) + -ing2.]
† 1. Scraggy, meagre. Obs. rare—1.
| 1616 T. Adams Sacrif. Thankfulness 20 The Lords Sacrifice must be fatte and faire; not a leane, scraggling, starued Creature. |
2. Straggling, irregular in outline or distribution.
| a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1752) 79 They, by being weak, were forced to plough the ground scragling. 1766 Mrs. S. Pennington Lett. III. 169 Where scraggling sloes their ebon branches spread. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Scraggling, irregular, scattered. Applied principally to a village where the houses are situated irregularly... Also applied to vegetation that grows wild and disorderly. 1870 Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. I. 471 The remains [of Hastings Castle] being somewhat scanty and scraggling. |