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Synonyms

draggle

American  
[drag-uhl] / ˈdræg əl /

verb (used with object)

draggled, draggling
  1. to soil by dragging over damp ground or in mud.


verb (used without object)

draggled, draggling
  1. to trail on the ground; be or become draggled.

  2. to follow slowly; straggle.

draggle British  
/ ˈdræɡəl /

verb

  1. to make or become wet or dirty by trailing on the ground; bedraggle

  2. (intr) to lag; dawdle

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of draggle

First recorded in 1490–1500; drag + -le

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:

Much of the uproar, as the U.S. duly noted and compensated for, was due to the fact that the politicians caught in the bloody draggle of Suez needed a scapegoat.

From Time Magazine Archive

As most of the actors draggle through their paces, it is plain that Novac and friends could easily outwit the lot of them.

From Time Magazine Archive

To draggle; to soil, as garments which, in walking, are suffered to drag in dust, mud, etc.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah

Caan't 'e see what a draggle tail, low-minded pass all this be bringin' 'e to?

From Lying Prophets by Phillpotts, Eden

So the bees go by in murmurous bands, Drowsily wand'ring to happier lands Where the lilies draggle the bank.

From Blooms of the Berry by Cawein, Madison J.

He cut a short pole at the water’s edge and drew from one of his pockets a bit of line and a draggled fly that had once been a royal coachman.

From Slate Nov. 25, 2018

Fifteen months later, a battered, be draggled ghost ship, the Wolf again dodged through the British blockade and limped home to her base.

From Time Magazine Archive

Wart draggled off to the tower room, where Merlyn was busy knitting himself a woollen night-cap for the winter.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

He could scarcely believe the sight before him—Rome’s beautiful princess, her hair dirty, tangled, and uncombed, her clothes draggled and torn, her face thin and wild.

From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks

White flowers whirled like snow and her draggled hair streamed back from her face as she squinted against the draft.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

“We had to grow,” Alexandra hissed as she propped herself against the terminal, her dark hair a curtain draggling before her as she hung her head.

From The Verge Feb. 13, 2019

Brooding over them is the gaunt figure of the Gravedigger Captain in his draggling coat, explaining to Adam Ember that he took the job because he wanted to be on the side of victory.

From Time Magazine Archive

In spite of the draggling wet and clinging mud, the country people were out in force; but their gapes, their nudges and whispers, were as little to him as the falling rain.

From Checkers A Hard-luck Story by Blossom, Henry M.

He looked down at the torn strakes draggling in the water alongside, at the smashed boat, and the tangled wreckage on the fore-deck.

From Command by McFee, William

While there is life in bird or beast they will struggle from the death-play blindly, but the Collared Buck lay placidly still with the rain draggling his fur and his eyes staring.

From Lives of the Fur Folk by Haviland, M. D.

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