ragtail and bobtail

Noun

rag (plural rags)

1. (especially, in plural) Tattered clothes (clothing).
   • —What a pretty dress! —What, this old rag?
2. A piece of old cloth, especially one used for cleaning, patching, etc.; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred or tatter.
   • Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, toss'd, / And flutter'd into rags; then reliques, beads,1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book III, lines 490-491
3. (derogatory) A shabby, beggarly person; synonym of ragamuffin.
   • For upon the like Proclamation there, they all came in, both tag and rag1596, Edmund Spenser, A Veue of the Present State of Irelande
4. A ragged edge in metalworking.
5. (slang) A sail, or any piece of canvas.
   • Our ship was a clipper, with every rag set, stunsails, sky-scrapers, and all.1864, James Russell Lowell, My Garden Acquaintance; A Good Word for Winter; A Moosehead Journal, page 83
6. (plural, singular, slang) Sanitary napkins, pads, or other materials used to absorb menstrual discharge.
   • "It's heaviest on the first day, which might be why it hurts so much. After that, it slows down and eventually stops, but you'll need the rags for about a week."2020, Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words, page 56

See all 30 meanings of rag