ragv. t.[Cf. Icel. rgja to calumniate, OHG. ruogen to accuse, G. rgen to censure, AS. wrgan, Goth. wrhjan to accuse.] To scold or rail at; to rate; to tease; to torment; to banter.(Pegge.)n.[OE. ragge, probably of Scand, origin; cf. Icel. rgg 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.()Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, tossed,
And fluttered into rags. (Milton.)Not having otherwise any rag of legality to cover the shame of their cruelty. (Fuller.)2. Hence, mean or tattered attire; worn-out dress.()And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm. (Dryden.)3. A shabby, beggarly fellow; a ragamuffin.()The other zealous rag is the compositor. (B. Jonson.)Upon the proclamation, they all came in, both tag and rag. (Spenser.)4. (Geol.) A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture.()5. (Metal Working) A ragged edge.()6. A sail, or any piece of canvas.()Our ship was a clipper with every rag set. (Lowell.)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 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.()v. i. To become tattered.()v. t.1. To break (ore) into lumps for sorting.()2. To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone.()v. t.1. (Music) To play or compose (a piece, melody, etc.) in syncopated time.()2. To dance to ragtime music, esp. in some manner considered indecorous.()n. An idle, ragged person.(Nares. Grose.)