dag
nounverbnounverbinterjectionnounnounverbnounnounnounattested in dialogue
- //dæɡ//
A hanging end or shred, in particular a long pointed strip of cloth at the edge of a piece of clothing, or one of a row of decorative strips of cloth that may ornament a tent, booth or fairground.
noun
- 1
A hanging end or shred, in particular a long pointed strip of cloth at the edge of a piece of clothing, or one of a row of decorative strips of cloth that may ornament a tent, booth or fairground.
- 2
A dangling lock of sheep’s wool matted with dung.
To see the dunged folds of dag-tayled sheepe.
1859-1865, Hensleigh Wedgwood, A Dictionary of English Etymology Daglocks, clotted locks hanging in dags or jags at a sheep's tail.
He was one of the first significant private buyers of wool in New Zealand, playing a major part in bringing respectability to what at first was a very diverse group. He pioneered the pelletising of dag waste.
The development of dags first requires some faeces to adhere to wool, but this is only the initial step in accumulation.
Etymology
From Middle English dagge, of uncertain (probably Germanic) origin, cognate with (Middle) Dutch dag, dagge, dagh. The sense "dangling lock of wool, matted with dung" (originally from the dialect of Kent) is also termed "daglock" (derived from the "hanging end" sense of "dag") or "daggle-lock" and some sources consider the sense a shortening of that longer word rather than a mere evolution of the "hanging end" sense.
verb
- 1
To shear the hindquarters of a sheep in order to remove dags or prevent their formation.
Blade shearers could shear, crutch, mules or dag sheep anywhere they were needed.
After learning how to crutch at 13, he could dag 400 sheep in a day by the spring of 1965 and earned himself more than just a bit of pocket money.
- 2
To cut or slash the edge of a garment into dags
- 3
obsoleteTo sully; to make dirty; to bemire.
Vexing the baths with his dagg'd rout.
noun
- 1
A skewer.
- 2
A spit, a sharpened rod used for roasting food over a fire.
- 3
obsoleteA dagger; a poniard.
Even when my dag was levelled at his heart
Soon after this, however, there were brought into the country these old-time dags, useful weapons which rendered far easier the labors of men and of women. These were employed for many years, but later the company sent in an improved knife, more useful for skinning and for the other purposes of camp life, but not nearly so good for war.
When we reached the poop-stairs an officer in a blue coat came forward jabbering some jargon; but the captain would have no parley with him, but flung his dag clean into the man's face, and over he went backwards— with his damned high heels in the air.
- 4
obsoleteA kind of large pistol.
The Spaniards discharged their dags, and hurt some.
Powder! No, Sir; my dag shall be my dagger.
A sort of pistol, called a dag, was used about the same time as hand guns and harquebuts.
- 5
The unbranched antler of a young deer.
Etymology
From Old French dague (from Old Occitan dague, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *daca (“Dacian knife”), from the Roman province Dacia (roughly modern Romania); the ending is possibly the faintly pejorative -ard suffix, as in poignard (“dagger”)); cognate with dagger.
verb
- 1
To skewer food, for roasting over a fire.
interjection
- 1
informalExpressing shock, awe or surprise; used as a general intensifier.
Dag, yo.
Etymology
N-less (or nonnasal) variant of dang, a euphemism for damn.
noun
- 1
slangOne who dresses unfashionably or without apparent care about appearance; someone who is not cool; a dweeb or nerd.
2004 July 25, Debbie Kruger, Melbourne Weekly Magazine, All the World's a Stage, Now, wide-eyed and unfashionably excited ("I’m such a dag!" she remarks several times), she has the leading role of Viola in the Bell Shakespeare Company’s production of Twelfth Night, opening on August 10 at the Victorian Arts Centre Playhouse.
SHE is one of Hollywood's most beautiful leading ladies and has access to any fashion designers, so then why is Catherine Zeta-Jones dressing like a bag lady?
A graduate of film studies in New York, May has had a hand in editing two of his three videos. Each casts him as a bespectacled dag in a world of glamour.
- 2
obsoleteAn odd or eccentric person; someone who is a bit strange but amusingly so.
Etymology
Perhaps a back-formation from daggy, or, a specialised sense of British dialect dag, a daring feat amongst boys.
noun
- 1
A misty shower; dew.
I write in a part of England where the vulgar invariably use shew for the preterite showed, &c. &c. "This morning, before the dag was off, I sew seed enow for this week, and then wed two beds", was the reply returned to me by my gardener, a few days ago.
Etymology
Of North Germanic origin, probably to Old Norse dag (“drizzle, haze, mist, dew”); compare Old Swedish dag, Swedish dagg (“dew”), vs Old Swedish dug (“drizzle”) Swedish dugg (“drizzle”). Doublet of dew.
verb
- 1
To be misty; to drizzle.
noun
- 1
A directed acyclic graph; an ordered pair (V,E) such that E is a subset of some partial ordering relation on V.
Etymology
Initialism of directed acyclic graph.
noun
- 1
Variant of dogPronunciation spelling of dog.
Mickey: Dags! D' ya like dags?
There it was again, that old Gaelic verb pronounced 'scriss,' that those involved in fighting talk apparently exuded on occasion. It could have been 'D'ya wanna buy a dag?' it was all the same.
noun
- 1
Variant of dag sandwichEllipsis of dag sandwich.
Etymology
Clipping of dagwood.
Forms
- plural
- dags
- past tense
- dagged
- past participle
- dagged
- present participle
- dagging
- third person singular
- dags
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