rag
part of speech
noun (a rag, rags); verb (rag, rags, ragged, ragging — UK informal)
meaning for a pupil
1) A rag is a piece of old cloth used for cleaning or wiping. tree →
2) Rags are old, torn clothes. tree →
3) (informal) A rag is a newspaper of poor quality. tree →
4) (UK informal) To rag someone is to tease them. tree →
5) (US slang) «On the rag» is a rude way to talk about a period; avoid it. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life rags are used for cleaning and polishing. In stories «rags to riches» means going from very poor to very rich, as in Cinderella. Phrases: «rags to riches», «like a red rag to a bull» (sure to make someone angry), «glad rags» (best clothes), «lose your rag» (UK, lose your temper).
examples
- Wipe the paint off with a rag. tree →
- The poor boy was dressed in rags. tree →
- It's a rags to riches story. tree →
- Dad used an oily rag to clean the bike. tree →
- (UK) Don't lose your rag over a game. tree →
- Saying that to her is like a red rag to a bull. tree →
- (informal) Grandad called the newspaper a rag. tree →
- (UK) The older boys ragged him about his haircut. tree →
- It was indeed poverty arrayed in rags. tree →
note
Countable. Note «ragged» (RAG-id) as an adjective means torn and old: ragged clothes; as a past verb it is «ragged» (ragd). The US slang period use is rude.
In the corpora
- For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «rag» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.