rag.
Tattered clothes (clothing).
Meaning & usage
Tattered clothes (clothing).
—What a pretty dress! —What, this old rag?
It's semiformal. I can't show up dressed in rags!
A piece of old cloth, especially one used for cleaning, patching, etc.; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred or tatter.
A shabby, beggarly person; synonym of ragamuffin.
A ragged edge in metalworking.
A sail, or any piece of canvas.
Sanitary napkins, pads, or other materials used to absorb menstrual discharge.
A newspaper or magazine, especially one whose journalism is considered to be of poor quality.
A poor, low-ranking kicker.
I have ace-four on my hand. In other words, I have ace-rag.
A curtain of various kinds.
A person suffering from exhaustion or lack of energy.
A banknote.
An uneven vertical margin (of a block of type).
We always leave rag on article typeset for the web.
Where this word 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.
To decorate (a wall, etc.) by applying paint with a rag.
To become tattered.
To menstruate.
Where this word 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.
A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture; ragstone.
Where this word comes from
Unknown origin; perhaps the same word as Etymology 1, above.
To break (ore) into lumps for sorting.
To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone.
Where this word comes from
Unknown origin; perhaps the same word as Etymology 1, above.
To scold or tell off; to torment; to banter.
To drive a car or another vehicle in a hard, fast, or unsympathetic manner.
To tease or torment, especially at a university; to bully, to haze.
Of dogs, to bite an object, often a toy or leash, and vigorously shake their head.
Where this word comes from
Uncertain. Ideas about the scolding and tormenting senses being related to on the rag are only speculative.
A prank or practical joke.
A society run by university students for the purpose of charitable fundraising.
Where this word comes from
Uncertain. Ideas about the scolding and tormenting senses being related to on the rag are only speculative.
An informal dance party featuring music played by African-American string bands.
A ragtime song, dance or piece of music.
Where this word comes from
Perhaps from ragged. Compare later ragtime.
To play or compose (a piece, melody, etc.) in syncopated time.
To dance to ragtime music.
To add syncopation (to a tune) and thereby make it appropriate for a ragtime song.
Where this word comes from
Perhaps from ragged. Compare later ragtime.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.