RAKE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rake mean? 

• RAKE (noun)
  The noun RAKE has 3 senses:

1. a dissolute man in fashionable society

2. degree of deviation from a horizontal plane

3. a long-handled tool with a row of teeth at its head; used to move leaves or loosen soil

  Familiarity information: RAKE used as a noun is uncommon.

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

1. move through with or as if with a rake

2. level or smooth with a rake

3. sweep the length of

4. examine hastily

5. gather with a rake

6. scrape gently

  Familiarity information: RAKE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RAKE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A dissolute man in fashionable society

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

blood; profligate; rake; rakehell; rip; roue

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

debauchee; libertine; rounder (a dissolute person; usually a man who is morally unrestrained)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Degree of deviation from a horizontal plane

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

pitch; rake; slant

Context example:

the roof had a steep pitch

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

gradient; slope (the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the horizontal)

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

loft ((golf) the backward slant on the head of some golf clubs that is designed to drive the ball high in the air)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A long-handled tool with a row of teeth at its head; used to move leaves or loosen soil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

tool (an implement used in the practice of a vocation)

Meronyms (parts of "rake"):

rake handle (the handle of a rake)

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

croupier's rake (a small rake used by a croupier to move chips around on the table)

garden rake (a rake used by gardeners)

Derivation:

rake (gather with a rake)

rake (level or smooth with a rake)

rake (move through with or as if with a rake)

• RAKE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they rake    ... he / she / it rakes   
Past simple: raked   
Past participle: raked   
-ing form: raking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move through with or as if with a rake

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

She raked her fingers through her hair

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

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

rake (a long-handled tool with a row of teeth at its head; used to move leaves or loosen soil)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Level or smooth with a rake

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

rake gravel

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

smooth; smoothen (make smooth or smoother, as if by rubbing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

rake (a long-handled tool with a row of teeth at its head; used to move leaves or loosen soil)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Sweep the length of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

The gunfire raked the coast

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

sweep (cover the entire range of)

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

enfilade (rake or be in a position to rake with gunfire in a lengthwise direction)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Examine hastily

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

glance over; rake; run down; scan; skim

Context example:

She scanned the newspaper headlines while waiting for the taxi

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

examine; see (observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 5

Meaning:

Gather with a rake

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

rake leaves

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

collect; garner; gather; pull together (assemble or get together)

"Rake" entails doing...:

grate; scrape (scratch repeatedly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Also:

rake in (earn large sums of money)

rake off (take money from an illegal transaction)

Derivation:

rake (a long-handled tool with a row of teeth at its head; used to move leaves or loosen soil)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Scrape gently

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

crease; graze; rake

Context example:

graze the skin

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

brush (touch lightly and briefly)

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

shave (touch the surface of lightly)

Sentence frames:

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

 Context examples 

Their sacks were slim, and with his own the three partners could rake together only two hundred dollars.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I fished about with a rake.

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

And the cook said, “Yes, you may go, but be back again in half an hour’s time, to rake out the ashes.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

We raked all these out of the fire.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But if not, there is no object in raking up this scandal against a dead man, foully as he has acted.

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

They had spent the morning raking among the ashes of the burned wood-pile, and besides the charred organic remains they had secured several discoloured metal discs.

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

A twig that he thought a long way off, would the next instant hit him on the nose or rake along his ribs.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

You think me an unfeeling, loose-principled rake: don't you?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

And, while the pharmaceutical industry is raking in billions by catering to insomniacs, Walker warns that the pills designed to help us doze off are a poor substitute for the natural sleep cycles that the brain needs in order to function well.

(Deep Sleep May Act as Fountain of Youth in Old Age, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

At length the cook took him into his service, and said he might carry wood and water, and rake the cinders together.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)