shag
1[ shag ]
/ ʃæg /
noun
verb (used with or without object), shagged, shag·ging.
to make or become rough or shaggy.
QUIZZES
DO YOU KNOW THIS VOCABULARY FROM "THE HANDMAID'S TALE"?
"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?
Question 1 of 10
decorum
Origin of shag
1before 1050; Old English sceacga (wooly) hair (not recorded in ME); cognate with Old Norse skegg beard; akin to shaw
OTHER WORDS FROM shag
shag·like, adjectiveWords nearby shag
Definition for shag (2 of 4)
shag2
[ shag ]
/ ʃæg /
noun
a small cormorant, Phalacrocorax aristotelis, of European coasts.
any of several small cormorants of the Southern Hemisphere.
Origin of shag
21560–70; perhaps special use of shag1, applied first to bird's crest
Definition for shag (3 of 4)
shag3
[ shag ]
/ ʃæg /
verb (used without object), shagged, shag·ging.
to dance a step with a vigorous hopping on each foot.
noun
this dance step.
Origin of shag
3First recorded in 1350–1400; perhaps variant of shog
Definition for shag (4 of 4)
shag4
[ shag ]
/ ʃæg /
verb (used with object), shagged, shag·ging.
to chase or follow after; pursue.
to go after and bring back; fetch.
Baseball. to retrieve and throw back (fly balls) in batting practice.
Origin of shag
41930–35; origin uncertain; see shack2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for shag
British Dictionary definitions for shag (1 of 3)
shag1
/ (ʃæɡ) /
noun
a matted tangle, esp of hair, wool, etc
a napped fabric, usually a rough wool
shredded coarse tobacco
verb shags, shagging or shagged
(tr) to make shaggy
Word Origin for shag
Old English sceacga; related to sceaga shaw 1, Old Norse skegg beard, skagi tip, skōgr forest
British Dictionary definitions for shag (2 of 3)
shag2
/ (ʃæɡ) /
noun
a cormorant, esp the green cormorant (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)
like a shag on a rock Australian slang abandoned and alone
Word Origin for shag
C16: special use of shag 1, with reference to its crest
British Dictionary definitions for shag (3 of 3)
shag3
/ (ʃæɡ) British slang /
verb shags, shagging or shagged
to have sexual intercourse with (a person)
(tr often foll by out; usually passive) to exhaust; tire
noun
an act of sexual intercourse
Word Origin for shag
C20: of unknown origin
usage for shag
Though still likely to cause offence to many older or more conservative people, this word has lost a lot of its shock value of late. It seems to have a jocular, relaxed connotation, which most of the other words in this field do not. No doubt its acceptability has been accelerated by its use in the title of an Austin Powers film. Interestingly, though advertisements for the film caused a large number of complaints to the British Advertising Standards Authority, they were not upheld
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