Word.ws English Dictionary

tag-rag and bobtail

tag-rag and bobtail is the alternative form of rag.

Meaning of rag

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

Questions about tag-rag and bobtail

What is tag-rag and bobtail the alternative form of?
Tag-rag and bobtail is the alternative form of rag.

Words near tag-rag and bobtail in the dictionary

  1. Tag-abaca
  2. tag-along right
  3. tag-along rights
  4. Tag-os
  5. tag-rag
  6. tag-rag and bobtail
  7. tag-team
  8. tag-teamed
  9. tag-teaming
  10. tag-teams
  11. tag-worm

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tag-rag and bobtail (page history and authors); rag (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “tag-rag and bobtail.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tag-rag_and_bobtail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.