shag
1 Americannoun
-
rough, matted hair, wool, or the like.
-
a mass of this.
-
a hairdo in which hair is cut in slightly uneven, overlapping layers downward from the crown, sometimes with the hair at the front and back hairlines left longer or wispier than the rest.
-
a cloth with a nap, as of silk or a heavy or rough woolen fabric.
-
a rug or carpet with a thick, shaggy pile.
-
a coarse tobacco cut into fine shreds.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
-
a small cormorant, Phalacrocorax aristotelis, of European coasts.
-
any of several small cormorants of the Southern Hemisphere.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb (used with or without object)
noun
-
an act or instance of sexual intercourse.
It’s been a while since I’ve had a shag.
-
a sexual partner, or a person considered as a sexual object.
I bet she’d be a good shag.
noun
-
a matted tangle, esp of hair, wool, etc
-
a napped fabric, usually a rough wool
-
shredded coarse tobacco
verb
verb
-
to have sexual intercourse with (a person)
-
to exhaust; tire
noun
noun
-
a cormorant, esp the green cormorant ( Phalacrocorax aristotelis )
-
slang abandoned and alone
Usage
What else does shag mean? Shag means "to have sex" with someone in British slang.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of shag1
First recorded before 1050; Old English sceacga “(wooly) hair” (not recorded in Middle English ); cognate with Old Norse skegg “beard”; akin to shaw
Origin of shag2
First recorded before 1560–70; perhaps special use of shag 1, applied first to bird's crest
Origin of shag3
First recorded in 1350–1400; perhaps variant of shog
Origin of shag4
First recorded in 1930–35; origin uncertain; see shack 2
Origin of shag5
First recorded in 1780–90; origin unknown
Vocabulary lists containing shag
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:
My wife absolutely loves the full shag carpeting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Working together, the couple removed the shag carpeting and wood paneling from the first floor and the stairway, installing drywall in their place.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
They spread poster boards across the cream-colored shag rug, shook up their paint pens and started to craft their messages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026
The fulcrum of a cultural transition from vibrancy to stagnation was the 1970s, an era remembered now, if at all, for leisure suits, burnt-orange shag carpeting and muttonchop sideburns.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2025
I couldn’t roll over, so it was just an irritated me, the shag rug, and the smell of spilled sour soy milk in my face until I got rescued.
From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper
As Team USA ran through its first World Baseball Classic workout, Kershaw participated in pitchers’ fielding practice and shagged fly balls during batting practice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
He had visited Camden Yards only once previously — many years ago, he shagged fly balls during batting practice while accompanied his father, then an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2022
I got my love of golf from my father, who has been around the game so long that he once shagged balls for Ben Hogan.
From Golf Digest ● May 5, 2020
A ballboy named Brady and three others that looked like they shared the name shagged flat jumpers for George 45 minutes before tip Wednesday, as onlookers stood by.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 14, 2017
And then Joe Pepitone got up and Doug and I shagged balls in the outfield.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
“Obviously it’s still fun to play in All-Star Games. But when you have the joy of him coming and shagging balls and stuff like that. To see their faces, that’s what makes it fun.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2024
Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Tellez was shagging fly balls in the outfield Saturday and got his finger stuck in the padding of the center field wall.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 16, 2023
He’s spent recent games watching and shagging baseballs and bats.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 28, 2023
“Ryan basically was their little gofer boy,” Kristi said, “running around, shagging balls, running the bases, getting the balls for the big brothers, and he just learned the game very, very young.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2022
Other times, he will sit down with one after the pitchers come in from their warmups after shagging flyballs.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 23, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
