Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Rag?

\Rag\, v. t. 1. (Music) To play or compose (a piece, melody, etc.) in syncopated time. [Colloq.] 2. To dance to ragtime music, esp. in some manner considered indecorous. [Colloq. or Slang]
\Rag\, v. t. [Cf. Icel. r[ae]gja to calumniate, OHG, ruogen to accuse, G. r["u]gen to censure, AS. wr[=e]gan, Goth. wr[=o]hjan to accuse.] To scold or rail at; to rate; to tease; to torment; to banter. [Prov. Eng.] --Pegge.
\Rag\, n. [OE. ragge, probably of Scand, origin; cf. Icel. r["o]gg rough hair. Cf. {Rug}, n.] 1. A piece of cloth torn off; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred; a tatter; a fragment. Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, tossed, And fluttered into rags. --Milton. Not having otherwise any rag of legality to cover the shame of their cruelty. --Fuller. 2. pl. Hence, mean or tattered attire; worn-out dress. And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm. --Dryden. 3. A shabby, beggarly fellow; a ragamuffin. The other zealous rag is the compositor. --B. Jonson. Upon the proclamation, they all came in, both tag and rag. --Spenser. 4. (Geol.) A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture. 5. (Metal Working) A ragged edge. 6. A sail, or any piece of canvas. [Nautical Slang] Our ship was a clipper with every rag set. --Lowell. {Rag bolt}, an iron pin with barbs on its shank to retain it in place. {Rag carpet}, a carpet of which the weft consists of narrow of cloth sewed together, end to end. {Rag dust}, fine particles of ground-up rags, used in making papier-mach['e] and wall papers. {Rag wheel}. (a) A chain wheel; a sprocket wheel. (b) A polishing wheel made of disks of cloth clamped together on a mandrel. {Rag wool}, wool obtained by tearing woolen rags into fine bits, shoddy.
\Rag\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Ragged}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Ragging}.] To become tattered. [Obs.]
\Rag\, v. t. 1. To break (ore) into lumps for sorting. 2. To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone.