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:
I was an angsty 14-year-old, sprawled on the white shag carpet of my parents’ Upper East Side apartment, mesmerized by a photo taken by Horst Fass in a place called Vietnam.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
Now Britons are growing exasperated with a decorator whose tastes run to the intellectual equivalent of avocado-colored appliances and garish shag carpeting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
An era remembered now, if at all, for leisure suits, burnt-orange shag carpeting and muttonchop sideburns, it marked the passage from progress to reaction.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2025
In 2018, there were also claims that Australians tried to rig the contest in favour of the shag - a species of cormorant.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2024
Clothes were scattered all over the shag carpeting and I had to wade through them to reach the bed.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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
In the 1960s, caddies shagged balls for their players during range sessions.
From Golf Digest ● Apr. 8, 2019
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
The Colorado Rockies first baseman had a productive workout Monday as he took 25 swings in the batting cage, ran the bases, fielded some grounders at first and shagged fly balls.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 24, 2017
And then Danny got up and Horace Clarke pitched and Joe Pepitone and I shagged balls in the outfield.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
Not even teenagers yet, Ebel’s sons would be taking ground balls and shagging in the outfield during batting practice before the start of Dodger games.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2025
Arozarena had entertained during batting practice, shagging flies in left while wearing a sombrero and cowboy boots.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
A few minutes later, he saw infield duo CJ Abrams and Luis García shagging flyballs.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2023
The South Florida players get the chance to interact with big leaguers and are displaying extra enthusiasm while shagging batting practice.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2022
Mariners: CF Kyle Lewis is shagging flyballs and ramping up his baseball activities as he works back from a torn right meniscus that has sidelined him since June 1.
From Fox News ● Aug. 24, 2021
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.
