The DICT Development Group

  Rag \Rag\ (r[a^]g), 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.
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  Rag \Rag\, n. [OE. ragge, probably of Scand, origin; cf. Icel.
     r["o]gg a tuft, shagginess, Sw. ragg rough hair. Cf. Rug,
     n.]
     1. A piece of cloth torn off; a tattered piece of cloth; a
        shred; a tatter; a fragment.
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              Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers,
              tossed,
              And fluttered into rags.              --Milton.
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              Not having otherwise any rag of legality to cover
              the shame of their cruelty.           --Fuller.
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     2. pl. Hence, mean or tattered attire; worn-out dress.
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              And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm.
                                                    --Dryden.
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     3. A shabby, beggarly fellow; a ragamuffin.
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              The other zealous rag is the compositor. --B.
                                                    Jonson.
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              Upon the proclamation, they all came in, both tag
              and rag.                              --Spenser.
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     4. (Geol.) A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in
        texture.
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     5. (Metal Working) A ragged edge.
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     6. A sail, or any piece of canvas. [Nautical Slang]
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              Our ship was a clipper with every rag set. --Lowell.
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     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
        strips 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.
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  Rag \Rag\ (r[a^]g), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ragged (r[a^]gd); p.
     pr. & vb. n. Ragging (r[a^]g"g[i^]ng).]
     To become tattered. [Obs.]
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  Rag \Rag\, v. t.
     1. To break (ore) into lumps for sorting.
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     2. To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone.
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  Rag \Rag\, v. t.
     1. (Music) To play or compose (a piece, melody, etc.) in
        syncopated time. [Colloq.]
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     2. To dance to ragtime music, esp. in some manner considered
        indecorous. [Colloq. or Slang]
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.] Ragabash