crag
noun
a steep, rugged rock; rough, broken, projecting part of a rock.
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crag
1 American
[krag]
/ kræg /
noun
crag
2
American
[kr ag]
/ kræg /
noun
Scot. and North England.
Crag
1
British
/ kræɡ /
noun
crag
2
British
/ kræɡ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of crag1
1275–1325; Middle English < British Celtic; akin to Welsh craig rock
Origin of crag2
1425–75; late Middle English cragge < Middle Dutch crage neck, throat; cognate with German Kragen collar; cf. craw
Explanation
A crag is a rough, jagged section of rock. Some sections of the Maine coast are made up of rugged crags and rocky beaches. Steep rock faces and cliffs are covered with crags — if you're a rock climber, you might attempt to scale the crags of a jagged rocky mountain. Parts of northern England and Scotland are particularly famous for their crags, and in fact the root of the word crag is Celtic, related to the Old Irish crec, "rock," and the Welsh craig. "rock" or "stone."
Vocabulary lists containing crag
The Odyssey
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 9
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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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.
See Examples For:
Images from the scene showed a steep crag overlooking the riverbed where searchers were scrambling over boulders.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
Chris and Vicky Binks, who are running the session, are kept busy with constructing anchors at the top of the crag to fix top ropes, setting up equipment and helping climbers pick their routes.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2023
I wonder: Is it because favorite earrings are worn more often, thus putting them in harm’s way, fated to dangle dangerously from the earlobes like an alpinist clinging to a mountain crag?
From Washington Post ● Jun. 27, 2022
We sat in the shade of a crag near the top of the ridge.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2022
There at the bend it was cut deep through a crag of old weathered stone once long ago vomited from the Mountain’s furnaces.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Joyce Hale, her husband, Jay, their 6-year-old granddaughter, Haley, and three friends were hiking to Hawksbill Crag in the Ozarks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
Steve Pierson said his brother’s plan was to begin, or end, his epic trip at Temple Crag, a familiar landmark to seasoned Sierra climbers and hikers that towers above the magnificent, glacier-fed Big Pine Lakes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2025
Blues coach Crag Berube downplayed the notion that Tarasenko would be a distraction for the team moving forward this season.
From Fox News ● Sep. 24, 2021
The fall took place in an area known as Shagg Crag, a granite wall that’s popular with rock climbers.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 9, 2020
The Fuzzy Bandits carried in an old turtle named Crag, who was in the worst shape of all.
From "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown
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.
