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scrag

[skrag]
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noun
  1. a lean or scrawny person or animal.
  2. the lean end of a neck of veal or mutton.
  3. Slang. the neck of a human being.
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verb (used with object), scragged, scrag·ging.
  1. Slang. to wring the neck of; hang; garrote.
  2. Metallurgy. to test (spring steel) by bending.
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Origin of scrag

First recorded in 1535–45; obscurely akin to crag2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

stretchexecutehoistswingnooselynchscraggibbet

Examples from the Web for scrag

Historical Examples

  • There was no trouble about our going among them so long as Scrag did not wind us.

    The Trail Book

    Mary Austin

  • Make the gravy of a scrag of mutton, a tea-spoonful of lemon pickle, a large spoonful of ketchup, and the same of browning.

  • The meat on the plate was pork, and the dish of scrag was empty.

    Brother Copas

    Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

  • He turned about, stared at the plate, stared from the plate to the dish of scrag.

    Brother Copas

    Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

  • Hunt for the spirit of the coming ruction and try to scrag it!

British Dictionary definitions for scrag

scrag

noun
  1. a thin or scrawny person or animal
  2. the lean end of a neck of veal or mutton
  3. informal the neck of a human being
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verb scrags, scragging or scragged (tr)
  1. informal to wring the neck of; throttle
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Word Origin

C16: perhaps variant of crag; related to Norwegian skragg, German Kragen collar
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

Word Origin and History for scrag

n.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper