Etymology From Middle English ragge, from Old English ragg (suggested by derivative raggiġ (“shaggy; bristly; ragged”)), from Old Norse rǫgg (“tuft; shagginess”), from Proto-Germanic *rawwa-, probably related to *rūhaz. Cognate with Swedish ragg. Related to rug.
Especially, In plural Tattered clothes (clothing).
—What a pretty dress! —What, this old rag?
It's semiformal. I can't show up dressed in rags!
2 more examples
rags to riches
And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm.1684, John Dryden, Miscellany Poems: Containing a New Translation of Virgills Eclogues, Ovid's Love Elegies, Odes of Horace and Other Authors, The twenty-ninth ode of the first book of Horace:
2
A piece of old cloth, especially one used for cleaning, patching, etc.; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred or tatter.
Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, toss'd, / And flutter'd into rags; then reliques, beads,1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book III, lines 490-491:
[…]even by the law of their own might and malice, not having otherwise any rag of legality to cover the shame of their cruelty.1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain from the Birth of Jesus Christ until the year MDCXLVIII, page 399:
3
Derogatory A shabby, beggarly person; synonym of ragamuffin.
For upon the like Proclamation there, they all came in, both tag and rag1596, Edmund Spenser, A Veue of the Present State of Irelande:
The other zealous rag is the compositor, / Who in an angle where the ants inhabit, / (The emblems of his labors) will sit curl'd1623, Ben Jonson, Time Vindicated to Himself and to His Honours:
1 more example
Nor will it be achieved by marching in the streets in leather, drag, chains, fish net over-flying-tits or any other get up. It will not be accomplished by hung-over bar rags, hustlers, shallow queens, or angry dykes.1986 February 8, “It’s Not The Sex, It’s The Morality”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 29, Boston, page 5:
Our ship was a clipper, with every rag set, stunsails, sky-scrapers, and all.1864, James Russell Lowell, My Garden Acquaintance; A Good Word for Winter; A Moosehead Journal, page 83:
"'Oh yes, that's all very well, but we haven't done with it yet,' said the lad, 'we shall have it worse directly,' and he ordered them to furl every rag but the mizen."1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 191:
6
Slang Sanitary napkins, pads, or other materials used to absorb menstrual discharge.
"It's heaviest on the first day, which might be why it hurts so much. After that, it slows down and eventually stops, but you'll need the rags for about a week."2020, Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words, page 56:
7
Derogatory, Slang A newspaper or magazine, especially one whose journalism is considered to be of poor quality.
"You must behave yourself, dear. Mr. Malone is a Pressman. He will have it all in his rag to-morrow, and sell an extra dozen among our neighbors."1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
Dated A person suffering from exhaustion or lack of energy.
"It took it out of me, though. I'm a rag this morning." "They work you too hard, dear."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
What was he at, do you think? Counting bank-notes; he had bundles of them. […] Well, Guv'nor, he stood up by-and-by, and taking the bundles of rags, the big uns in one hand, tother ones in tother, he toddled out of the room; […] So I tucked my violin under my arm, and sallied out after the old budgy ragman, determined to ease him of his load at the very first lonesome corner I could track him to.1876, The Shamrock, volume 14:
Etymology From Middle English ragge, from Old English ragg (suggested by derivative raggiġ (“shaggy; bristly; ragged”)), from Old Norse rǫgg (“tuft; shagginess”), from Proto-Germanic *rawwa-, probably related to *rūhaz. Cognate with Swedish ragg. Related to rug.
1
To decorate (a wall, etc.) by applying paint with a rag.
Etymology Unknown origin; perhaps the same word as Etymology 1, above.
1
A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture; ragstone.
the three walls around the garden, each one of thirty-three feet, were built out of three layers of stone — pebble stone, flint and rag stone.2003, Peter Ackroyd, The Clerkenwell Tales, page 1:
Etymology Unknown origin; perhaps the same word as Etymology 1, above.
1
To break (ore) into lumps for sorting.
2
To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone.
Near-synonym: rough
rag
verb
Etymology Uncertain. Ideas about the scolding and tormenting senses being related to on the rag are only speculative.
1
To scold or tell off; to torment; to banter.
“Yesterday it was Mademoiselle Daubreuil, today it is Mademoiselle—Cinderella! Decidedly you have the heart of a Turk, Hastings! You should establish a harem!” “It’s all very well to rag me. […]”1923, Agatha Christie, The Murder on the Links:
2
UK, Slang To drive a car or another vehicle in a hard, fast, or unsympathetic manner.
3
To tease or torment, especially at a university; to bully, to haze.
4
Of dogs, to bite an object, often a toy or leash, and vigorously shake their head.
The rascal winked and grinned. 'There are always and means,' said he. 'But don't blame your foreman. He thought it was just a rag. I swapped clothes with his assistant, and in I came.'1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed:
Well, it’s only a rag, isn’t it?1935, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night:
1 more example
And Vesper. He looked to the right, past the thin man who was lying back with his eyes closed. His first reaction was one of scorn. Damn fool girl getting herself trussed up like a chicken, having her skirt pulled over her head as if the whole of this business was some kind of dormitory rag.1953, Ian Fleming, “The Crawling of the Skin”, in Casino Royale, London: Pan Books, published 1955, page 111:
2
Ireland, UK A society run by university students for the purpose of charitable fundraising.