scrag
[ skrag ]
/ skræg /
noun
a lean or scrawny person or animal.
the lean end of a neck of veal or mutton.
Slang. the neck of a human being.
verb (used with object), scragged, scrag·ging.
Slang. to wring the neck of; hang; garrote.
Metallurgy. to test (spring steel) by bending.
Origin of scrag
First recorded in 1535–45; obscurely akin to crag2
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for scrag
British Dictionary definitions for scrag
scrag
/ (skræɡ) /
noun
a thin or scrawny person or animal
the lean end of a neck of veal or mutton
informal the neck of a human being
verb scrags, scragging or scragged (tr)
informal to wring the neck of; throttle
Word Origin for scrag
C16: perhaps variant of crag; related to Norwegian skragg, German Kragen collar
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for scrag
scrag
1540s, "lean person or animal, a raw-bones;" perhaps from a Scandinavian source (cf. Norwegian skragg "a lean person;" dialectal Swedish skraka "a great, dry tree; a long, lean man," skragge "old and torn thing," Danish skrog "hull of a ship, carcass," Icelandic skröggr, a nickname of the fox); perhaps from root of shrink.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper