RAG (ragged, ragging)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rag mean? 

• RAG (noun)
  The noun RAG has 5 senses:

1. a small piece of cloth or paper

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

3. music with a syncopated melody (usually for the piano)

4. newspaper with half-size pages

5. a boisterous practical joke (especially by college students)

  Familiarity information: RAG used as a noun is common.

• RAG (verb)
  The verb RAG has 6 senses:

1. treat cruelly

2. cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

3. play in ragtime

4. harass with persistent criticism or carping

5. censure severely or angrily

6. break into lumps before sorting

  Familiarity information: RAG used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RAG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small piece of cloth or paper

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

rag; shred; tag; tag end; tatter

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 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

rag; rag week

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)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Music with a syncopated melody (usually for the piano)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

rag; ragtime

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

dance music (music to dance to)

Derivation:

rag (play in ragtime)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Newspaper with half-size pages

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

rag; sheet; tabloid

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

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

Sense 5

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)

• RAG (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Treat cruelly

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

bedevil; crucify; dun; frustrate; rag; torment

Context example:

The children tormented the stuttering teacher

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

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

Context example:

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

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 3

Meaning:

Play in ragtime

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

rag that old tune

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

play; spiel (replay (as a melody))

Domain category:

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

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

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They will rag the duet

Derivation:

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

Harass with persistent criticism or carping

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

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

Context example:

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

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 5

Meaning:

Censure severely or angrily

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

Context example:

The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup

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 6

Meaning:

Break into lumps before sorting

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

rag ore

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

 Context examples 

The dead men, however, did not hear, but were quite silent, and let their rags go on burning.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from a book.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was all but naked, a ragged and fire-scorched skin hanging part way down his back, but on his body there was much hair.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

My God! and I was hungry and in rags, he thought to himself.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“Tie a rag around it, and it’ll be all right.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Put it down in your diary, my young friend, and send it to your rag.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Sir Nigel had scarcely spoken when the mist seemed to thin in the valley, and to shred away into long ragged clouds which trailed from the edges of the cliffs.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“A clever counsel would tear it all to rags,” said he.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Suppose some of the boys had seen me coming through Canterbury, wayworn and ragged, and should find me out?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The first man I saw was of a meagre aspect, with sooty hands and face, his hair and beard long, ragged, and singed in several places.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)