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RAG

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rag¹

  • /ɹæɡ/ UK
  • /ɹaɡ/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ɾaɡ/ Scotland, Wales
  • /ɹæːɡ/ Australia
  • /ɹɛɡ/ New Zealand
  • /ɹæɡ/
  • [ˈɹʷæɡ]
  • /ɹeɪ̯ɡ/
  • [ˈɹʷeɪ̯ɡ]

Rhymes with -æɡ

Where it comes from

From Middle English ragge, from Old English ragg (suggested by derivative raggiġ (“shaggy; bristly; ragged”)), from Old Norse rǫgg (“tuft; shagginess”), from Proto-Germanic *rawwa-, probably related to *rūhaz. Cognate with Swedish ragg. Related to rug.

noun rags

  1. especially, in plural Tattered clothes (clothing). —What a pretty dress! —What, this old rag?
  2. A piece of old cloth, especially one used for cleaning, patching, etc.; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred or tatter. Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, toss'd, / And flutter'd into rags; then reliques, beads,
  3. derogatory A shabby, beggarly person; synonym of ragamuffin. For upon the like Proclamation there, they all came in, both tag and rag
  4. A ragged edge in metalworking.
  5. slang A sail, or any piece of canvas. Our ship was a clipper, with every rag set, stunsails, sky-scrapers, and all.
  6. plural, singular, slang Sanitary napkins, pads, or other materials used to absorb menstrual discharge. "It's heaviest on the first day, which might be why it hurts so much. After that, it slows down and eventually stops, but you'll need the rags for about a week."
  7. derogatory, slang A newspaper or magazine, especially one whose journalism is considered to be of poor quality. "You must behave yourself, dear. Mr. Malone is a Pressman. He will have it all in his rag to-morrow, and sell an extra dozen among our neighbors."
  8. A poor, low-ranking kicker. I have ace-four on my hand. In other words, I have ace-rag.
  9. slang A curtain of various kinds.
  10. dated A person suffering from exhaustion or lack of energy. "It took it out of me, though. I'm a rag this morning." "They work you too hard, dear."
  11. obsolete, slang A banknote. What was he at, do you think? Counting bank-notes; he had bundles of them. […] Well, Guv'nor, he stood up by-and-by, and taking the bundles of rags, the big uns in one hand, tother ones in tother, he toddled out of the room; […] So I tucked my violin under my arm, and sallied out after the old budgy
  12. An uneven vertical margin (of a block of type). We always leave rag on article typeset for the web.

verb rags · ragging · ragged

  1. transitive To decorate (a wall, etc.) by applying paint with a rag.
  2. intransitive To become tattered.
  3. euphemistic, intransitive, slang, sometimes, vulgar To menstruate.

rag²

  • /ɹæɡ/ UK
  • /ɹaɡ/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ɾaɡ/ Scotland, Wales
  • /ɹæːɡ/ Australia
  • /ɹɛɡ/ New Zealand
  • /ɹæɡ/
  • [ˈɹʷæɡ]
  • /ɹeɪ̯ɡ/
  • [ˈɹʷeɪ̯ɡ]

Rhymes with -æɡ

Where it comes from

Unknown origin; perhaps the same word as Etymology 1, above.

noun rags

  1. countable, uncountable A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture; ragstone. the three walls around the garden, each one of thirty-three feet, were built out of three layers of stone — pebble stone, flint and rag stone.

verb rags · ragging · ragged

  1. To break (ore) into lumps for sorting.
  2. To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone. Near-synonym: rough

rag³

  • /ɹæɡ/ UK
  • /ɹaɡ/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ɾaɡ/ Scotland, Wales
  • /ɹæːɡ/ Australia
  • /ɹɛɡ/ New Zealand
  • /ɹæɡ/
  • [ˈɹʷæɡ]
  • /ɹeɪ̯ɡ/
  • [ˈɹʷeɪ̯ɡ]

Rhymes with -æɡ

Where it comes from

Uncertain. Ideas about the scolding and tormenting senses being related to on the rag are only speculative.

verb rags · ragging · ragged

  1. To scold or tell off; to torment; to banter. “Yesterday it was Mademoiselle Daubreuil, today it is Mademoiselle—Cinderella! Decidedly you have the heart of a Turk, Hastings! You should establish a harem!” “It’s all very well to rag me. […]”
  2. UK, slang To drive a car or another vehicle in a hard, fast, or unsympathetic manner.
  3. To tease or torment, especially at a university; to bully, to haze.
  4. transitive Of dogs, to bite an object, often a toy or leash, and vigorously shake their head.

noun rags

  1. dated A prank or practical joke. The rascal winked and grinned. 'There are always and means,' said he. 'But don't blame your foreman. He thought it was just a rag. I swapped clothes with his assistant, and in I came.'
  2. Ireland, UK A society run by university students for the purpose of charitable fundraising.

rag⁴

  • /ɹæɡ/ UK
  • /ɹaɡ/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ɾaɡ/ Scotland, Wales
  • /ɹæːɡ/ Australia
  • /ɹɛɡ/ New Zealand
  • /ɹæɡ/
  • [ˈɹʷæɡ]
  • /ɹeɪ̯ɡ/
  • [ˈɹʷeɪ̯ɡ]

Rhymes with -æɡ

Where it comes from

Perhaps from ragged. Compare later ragtime.

noun rags

  1. US, obsolete An informal dance party featuring music played by African-American string bands.
  2. A ragtime song, dance or piece of music.

verb rags · ragging · ragged

  1. informal, transitive To play or compose (a piece, melody, etc.) in syncopated time. Now let's rag it. We'll keep the notes more or less the same but make the rhythm more fun.
  2. informal, intransitive To dance to ragtime music.
  3. obsolete To add syncopation (to a tune) and thereby make it appropriate for a ragtime song.

RAG⁵

noun

  1. abbreviation, initialism, uncountable Initialism of retrieval-augmented generation: a method of augmenting performance of LLMs (large language models) by serving them a curated selection of data input, via a combination of relevant data libraries and on-the-fly but relevant search results.retrieval-augmented generation Moreover, the effectiveness of RAG might decrease if the knowledge base becomes “polluted” by LLM-generated content.

Rag⁶

proper noun the Rag

  1. UK, obsolete, slang Synonym of Rag and Famish (“the Army and Navy Club in London, England”).

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