rag

Meanings

Noun

• Tattered clothes.
• A piece of old cloth, especially one used for cleaning, patching, etc.; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred or tatter.
• A shabby, beggarly fellow; a ragamuffin.
• A ragged edge in metalworking.
• A sail, or any piece of canvas.
• Sanitary napkins, pads, or other materials used to absorb menstrual discharge.
• A newspaper or magazine, especially one whose journalism is considered to be of poor quality.
• A poor, low-ranking kicker.
• A curtain of various kinds.
• A person suffering from exhaustion or lack of energy.
• A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture; ragstone.
• A prank or practical joke.
• A society run by university students for the purpose of charitable fundraising.
• An informal dance party featuring music played by African-American string bands.
• A ragtime song, dance or piece of music.

Verb

• To decorate (a wall, etc.) by applying paint with a rag.
• To become tattered.
• To break (ore) into lumps for sorting.
• To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone.
• To scold or tell off; to torment; to banter.
• To drive a car or another vehicle in a hard, fast or unsympathetic manner.
• To tease or torment, especially at a university; to bully, to haze.
• To play or compose (a piece, melody, etc.) in syncopated time.
• To dance to ragtime music.
• To add syncopation (to a tune) and thereby make it appropriate for a ragtime song.

Origin

• From Middle English ragge, from Old English ragg (suggested by derivative raggiġ), from Old Norse rǫgg. Cognate with Swedish ragg. Related to rug.
• Unknown origin; perhaps the same word as Etymology 1, above.
• Origin uncertain.
• Perhaps from ragged. Compare later ragtime.