/ English Dictionary

RAG

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: ragged    , ragging   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A boisterous practical joke (especially by college students)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("rag" is a kind of...):

practical joke (a prank or trick played on a person (especially one intended to make the victim appear foolish))

Domain region:

Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small piece of cloth or paper

Synonyms:

rag; shred; tag; tag end; tatter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("rag" is a kind of...):

piece of cloth; piece of material (a separate part consisting of fabric)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rag"):

pine-tar rag (baseball equipment consisting of a rag soaked with pine tar; used on the handle of a baseball bat to give a batter a firm grip)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Newspaper with half-size pages

Synonyms:

rag; sheet; tabloid

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("rag" is a kind of...):

newspaper; paper (a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Music with a syncopated melody (usually for the piano)

Synonyms:

rag; ragtime

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("rag" is a kind of...):

dance music (music to dance to)

Derivation:

rag (play in ragtime)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A week at British universities during which side-shows and processions of floats are organized to raise money for charities

Synonyms:

rag; rag week

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("rag" is a kind of...):

hebdomad; week (any period of seven consecutive days)

Meronyms (parts of "rag"):

rag day (a day on which university students hold a rag)

Domain region:

Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Break into lumps before sorting

Example:

rag ore

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "rag" is one way to...):

break up; fragment; fragmentise; fragmentize (break or cause to break into pieces)

Domain category:

excavation; mining (the act of extracting ores or coal etc from the earth)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Censure severely or angrily

Example:

The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup

Synonyms:

bawl out; berate; call down; call on the carpet; chew out; chew up; chide; dress down; have words; jaw; lambast; lambaste; lecture; rag; rebuke; remonstrate; reprimand; scold; take to task; trounce

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "rag" is one way to...):

criticise; criticize; knock; pick apart (find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rag"):

castigate; chasten; chastise; correct; objurgate (censure severely)

brush down; tell off (reprimand)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot rag Sue

Sense 3

Meaning:

Harass with persistent criticism or carping

Example:

His fellow workers razzed him when he wore a jacket and tie

Synonyms:

bait; cod; rag; rally; razz; ride; tantalise; tantalize; taunt; tease; twit

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "rag" is one way to...):

bemock; mock (treat with contempt)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rag"):

barrack; flout; gibe; jeer; scoff (laugh at with contempt and derision)

banter; chaff; jolly; josh; kid (be silly or tease one another)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 4

Meaning:

Play in ragtime

Example:

rag that old tune

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "rag" is one way to...):

play; spiel (replay (as a melody))

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

music (musical activity (singing or whistling etc.))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They will rag the duet

Derivation:

rag (music with a syncopated melody (usually for the piano))

Sense 5

Meaning:

Cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

Example:

It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves

Synonyms:

annoy; bother; chafe; devil; get at; get to; gravel; irritate; nark; nettle; rag; rile; vex

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "rag" is one way to...):

displease (give displeasure to)

Verb group:

chafe (feel extreme irritation or anger)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rag"):

get; get under one's skin (irritate)

eat into; fret; grate; rankle (gnaw into; make resentful or angry)

peeve (cause to be annoyed, irritated, or resentful)

ruffle (trouble or vex)

fret (cause annoyance in)

beset; chevvy; chevy; chivvy; chivy; harass; harry; hassle; molest; plague; provoke (annoy continually or chronically)

antagonise; antagonize (provoke the hostility of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to rag Sue

Sense 6

Meaning:

Treat cruelly

Example:

The children tormented the stuttering teacher

Synonyms:

bedevil; crucify; dun; frustrate; rag; torment

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "rag" is one way to...):

beset; chevvy; chevy; chivvy; chivy; harass; harry; hassle; molest; plague; provoke (annoy continually or chronically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rag"):

madden (drive up the wall; go on someone's nerves)

hamstring (make ineffective or powerless)

badger; beleaguer; bug; pester; tease (annoy persistently)

oppress; persecute (cause to suffer)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Credits

 Context examples: 

It's very bad poetry, but I felt it when I wrote it, one day when I was very lonely, and had a good cry on a rag bag.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

From shoulder to wrist of the crossed arms, the coat-sleeve, blue flannel shirt and undershirt were ripped in rags, while the arms themselves were terribly slashed and streaming blood.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

As he hung over the coffin, his face was concealed by long locks of ragged hair; but one vast hand was extended, in colour and apparent texture like that of a mummy.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

“He was a seaman,” said George Merry, who, bolder than the rest, had gone up close and was examining the rags of clothing.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Morlighem's new topography shows southern Greenland's ragged, crumbling coastline is scored by more than 100 canyons beneath glaciers that empty into the ocean.

(Hidden Greenland canyons mean more sea level rise, NASA)

A torn, ragged, mangled wound, or an accidental cut of esophagus.

(Laceration Of Esophagus, NCI Thesaurus)

Ss-whack! ss-whack! ss-whack! went the horse-whips—for a number of the spectators, either driven onwards by the pressure behind or willing to risk some physical pain on the chance of getting a better view, had crept under the ropes and formed a ragged fringe within the outer ring.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Thinking of "ABCDE" can help you remember what to watch for: • Asymmetry - the shape of one half does not match the other • Border - the edges are ragged, blurred or irregular • Color - the color is uneven and may include shades of black, brown and tan • Diameter - there is a change in size, usually an increase • Evolving - the mole has changed over the past few weeks or months

(Melanoma, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

As he left the room, two rosy-faced boys, ragged and dirty, about eight and nine years old, rushed into it just released from school, and coming eagerly to see their sister, and tell that the Thrush was gone out of harbour; Tom and Charles.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I think I must have continued my wonder in my dreams, for, sleeping and waking, my thoughts always came back to the little punctures in her throat and the ragged, exhausted appearance of their edges—tiny though they were.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

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