scrag
Americannoun
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a lean or scrawny person or animal.
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the lean end of a neck of veal or mutton.
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Slang. the neck of a human being.
verb (used with object)
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Slang. to wring the neck of; hang; garrote.
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Metallurgy. to test (spring steel) by bending.
noun
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a thin or scrawny person or animal
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the lean end of a neck of veal or mutton
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informal the neck of a human being
verb
Etymology
Origin of scrag
First recorded in 1535–45; obscurely akin to crag 2
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:
After all, eggs hatched at 40 plus, like mine, represent the scrag end of the market.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 18, 2014
The expressionist body is a scrag of mutton with big extremities, very unlike the prosperous Renaissance nudes that, however mutated, survived in Picasso and Matisse.
From Time Magazine Archive
Soak a neck of mutton in water for an hour, cut off the scrag, and put it into a stewpot, with two quarts of water.
From The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families by Mary Eaton
The scrag of mutton costs from eight to ten cents; the barley is eight cents a pound—about two cents’ worth is sufficient; the onion may be reckoned as one cent.
From The Century Cook Book by Mary Ronald
Stew a scrag of mutton: put in a peck of peas, a bunch of turnips cut small, a few carrots, onions, lettuce, and some parsley.
From The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory; In Which will Be Found a Large Collection of Original Receipts. 3rd ed. by Lady Charlotte Campbell Bury
Centre Emma Orr scragged Dow with a stretching cover tackle as the England wing bore down on the line after a charge down.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2025
Vincent Koch secured a turnover after Itoje was scragged at the base to end another promising attack.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2024
Peter Nelson was almost to the tryline when he was scragged by Beauden Barrett.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 2, 2019
Petri takes it but he’s scragged and knocks on on halfway.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 11, 2015
But neither of the Atlanteans was "scragged", and at six P.M. an allegedly honeymooning couple parked their big roadster in the garage at Norgrad Field and went through the gates.
From Triplanetary by E. E. (Edward Elmer) Smith
The best ones have been breathtaking, beginning with the 5-3 scragging of Chelsea on New Year’s Day 2015, when a Spurs team with five Bale-money hang-overs in the squad ran the champions-in-waiting into the ground.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 27, 2019
But still De Gea came back for more, bristling like a lovable cartoon puppy, the hardest kid in chess club, seeming to grow in conviction with every scragging.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 19, 2013
The prop Davit Zirakashvili was in the sin bin then after scragging Richard Wigglesworth from a blatantly offside position.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 9, 2010
For this she was put to scragging, second-picking the bushes that had a few inferior puffs left on the twigs by swifter hands than hers.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
I had nothing to do with the scragging.
From The Master of the Shell by Talbot Baines Reed
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