to rag
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To abuse, and tear to rags the characters of the persons abused. She gave him a good ragging, or ragged him off heartily.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Lạm dụng và làm hư danh dự của người bị lạm dụng
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Era: ca. 1811 (Georgian)
Where it’s used:
Origin
British & Irish English
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811 edition, public domain; Project Gutenberg #5402, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to rag” mean?
To abuse, and tear to rags the characters of the persons abused. She gave him a good ragging, or ragged him off heartily.
Is “to rag” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.