- rag
- [[t]ræ̱g[/t]]
rags, ragging, ragged1) N-VAR A rag is a piece of old cloth which you can use to clean or wipe things.
He was wiping his hands on an oily rag.
...a bundle of old rags...
It looked like a piece of rag.
2) N-PLURAL Rags are old torn clothes.There were men, women and small children, some dressed in rags.
3) N-COUNT (disapproval) People refer to a newspaper as a rag when they have a poor opinion of it. [INFORMAL]`This man Tom works for a local rag,' he said.
4) VERB To rag someone means to make fun of them in an unkind way. [BRIT][V n] She was about thirty, ten years older than the youngsters ragging her.
Syn:5) → See also ragged6) PHRASE: V inflects If you lose your rag, you suddenly become so angry that you are not in control of yourself. [BRIT, INFORMAL]I've only once seen him lose his rag.
7) PHRASE You use rags to riches to describe the way in which someone quickly becomes very rich after they have been quite poor.His was a rags-to-riches story and people admire that.
8) PHRASE: v-link PHR, like PHR If you describe something as a red rag to a bull, you mean that it is certain to make a particular person or group very angry. [mainly BRIT]This sort of information is like a red rag to a bull for the tobacco companies.
English dictionary. 2008.
