crag
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
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:
A climber was airlifted to hospital after slipping and falling from a crag in Derbyshire.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2024
“This is a really important crag not just in Washington but in the U.S.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 14, 2023
Nestled in a sandstone crag along a winding river in the English countryside, a near-complete Anglo-Saxon cave house has been waiting to tell centuries-old stories.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 17, 2021
No one’s going to be standing at the crag telling you to go home.
From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2020
He looked like an eagle staring down from a high mountain crag as his eyes swept over his audience of awed young Navajo men.
From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac
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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
Crag the turtle spoke slowly, but everyone always listened to his words.
From "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown
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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.