rags
Britishplural noun
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torn, old, or shabby clothing
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cotton or linen cloth waste used in the manufacture of rag paper
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informal
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from poverty to great wealth
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( as modifier )
a rags-to-riches tale
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informal best clothes; finery
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It involves rags and a lot of dirty water.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
If your social-worker friend envies your designer clothes, you don’t have to ditch your Prada for rags, but it’s probably better not to festoon your outfit with your biggest diamond.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
We say that the “Cinderella” story is rags to riches, but in all versions, especially the European ones, she is a noble girl put into the kitchen by her wicked stepmother.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025
Air India said an investigation later found "polythene bags, rags and clothes that had been flushed down and stuck in the plumbing" of the plane's toilets.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2025
My mother burned rags soaked in the stuff to smoke out the mosquitoes when they got thick.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
