rags

British  

/ ræɡz /

plural noun

1. torn, old, or shabby clothing

2. cotton or linen cloth waste used in the manufacture of rag paper

3. informal

   1. from poverty to great wealth

   2. ( as modifier )

      a rags-to-riches tale

4. informal best clothes; finery

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Example Sentences

Smith, who interviewed biologists who cared for Claude, said children are enthralled by the gator’s “rags to riches” story.

From Los Angeles Times

There were Simon and all three Incorrigibles, sitting next to a heap of rags.

From Literature

Kennedy couldn’t shake the nightmare image of two people in rags, huddled in radioactive rubble, wondering how they got there.

From Literature

The putrid chamber drama becomes a fantasia, befouled rags turn into tuxedo pants and it’s finally safe to belt how they feel.

From Los Angeles Times

Swift opens her track with: “When I found you, you were young, wayward, lost in the cold / Pulled up to you in the Jag’, turned your rags to gold.”

From Los Angeles Times