| 释义 |
▪ I. scrag, n.1|skræg|
Also 6 skrag, skragge, 8 scraig, scragg.
[As the senses are those of the older crag n.2 (and n.3), it is probable that this is an alteration of that word, due to some feeling of phonetic expressiveness.
The senses below are placed in the order of their first appearance in our quots.; the order of arrangement in crag n.2 is prob. in accordance with that of development.]
1. A lean person or animal. (In depreciatory use.) Cf. crag n.3 (which occurs only in Udall).
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 270, I feare..yonder same spare slendre skragges and pale salowe coloured whooresoonnes [orig. L. graciles illos ac pallidos]. 1582Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 89 We beheld a windbeaten hard shrimp, With lanck wan visadge,..A meigre leane rake..When the skrag had marcked [etc.]. c1600Lust's Dom. iv. v, You see I am but a scrag, my Lord; my legs are not of the biggest. 1602Dekker Satirom. L 4 b, Horace was a goodly Corpulent Gentleman, and not so leane a hollow-cheekt Scrag as thou art. 1608Topsell Serpents 66 The elder sort of them are rough, hard, thinne and leane scragges,..nothing but skinne and bone. c1815Scott in Lockhart (1837) III. 379 May be some bird had whispered Daisy [his charger] that I had been to see the grand reviews at Paris on a little scrag of a Cossack, while my own gallant trooper was left behind. 1845S. Judd Margaret ii. v. (1881) 255 We are going to catch every scrag that comes this way from the Pest.
2. The lean and inferior end of a neck of mutton (or veal). Also (earlier) scrag-end (also used transf.). Cf. crag-end, crag n.2 3.
a1644Quarles Virgin Widow v. i, The Devill a bit of meat have I gotten these nine dayes, but once a leane scrag end of a Neck of Mutton. 1728E. S[mith] Compl. Housew. 29 To dress a Neck of Mutton. Take the best End..and cut it into Stakes..: Take the Scrag-End of the Mutton, break it in pieces [etc.]. 1747H. Glasse Cookery ii. 33 A Leg of Mutton..: Or a fine Neck, with the Scraig cut off. Ibid. 35 Shalot-Sauce for a Scraig of Mutton boiled. 1752Fielding Amelia v. ii, They sat down..to a scrag of mutton and broth. a1754― Fathers iii. i, I may not marry whom I please, but must have crammed down my throat some..scrag end of a woman of quality. 1769Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 61 Cut a scrag-end of a neck of veal in pieces. Ibid. 63 Take a scrag of veal [etc.]. 1771E. Haywood New Present 32 Boil the scragg an hour before you put in the other end [of the neck]. 1820Lamb Elia Ser. i. Christ's Hosp., In lieu of..our scanty mutton scrags on Fridays..he had his hot plate of roasted veal. 1837Hood Hymeneal Retrospect. i. viii, That neck, not a swan could excel it in grace,..Though now a grave 'kerchief you properly place, To conceal the scrag-end of your charms! 1848Thackeray Bk. Snobs xix, Lady MacScrew..serves up a scrag-of-mutton on silver. 1874Mrs. H. Wood Mast. Greylands xxxi, I could only get the scrag end this morning, aunt: the best end was sold.
3. The neck (of a sheep). Cf. crag n.2 3.
1842J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. (1862) II. 384 The scrag or neck should be strong and masculine. 1869Daily News 7 Aug., The judges thought the breed much improved, both in their scrags and general symmetry.
4. slang. The neck (of a human being).
[1756: ? Implied in scrag v. 1.] 1829Vidocq's Mem. IV. 266, I adwise you to nose on your pals,..that'll be the best vay To save your scrag. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre xxxvii, I have your little pearl necklace at this moment fastened round my bronze scrag under my cravat. 1857‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue 43 And you must sport..a yellow wipe tied loosily Round your scrag. 1887Henley Villon's Straight Tip 27 Until the squeezer nips your scrag.
5. scrag-whale, a finner-whale of the sub-family Agaphelinæ, esp. Agaphelus gibbosus, common in the North Atlantic; so also † scrag-tail whale.
1701C. Wolley Jrnl. New York (1860) 39 A Scrag-tail Whale. 1725Dudley in Phil. Trans. XXXIII. 258 The Scrag Whale is near a-kin to the Fin-back, but, instead of a Fin upon his Back, the Ridge of the After-part of his Back is scragged with half a Dozen Knobs or Nuckles. 1835O. Macy Hist. Nantucket i. ii. 28 A whale, of the kind called ‘scragg’, came into the harbor. 1850Gray Catal. Mammalia Brit. Mus. i. 18 Balæna gibbosa. The Scrag Whale.
▪ II. scrag, n.2 Now chiefly dial.|skræg|
[Of obscure origin: cf. shrag, scrog, shrog ns.]
1. A stump of a tree; also, a rough projection (on a pole, trunk, or stump of a tree, rock, etc.).
1567Turberv. Epit. etc. 99 b, The sielie Beast to scape the Dogs did iumpe vpon a roote. The rotten scrag it burst, from Cliffe to Seas he fell. 1574R. Scot Hop Garden 30 It is very necessarie that your Poales be streyght without scrags or knobbes. 1855Carlyle Misc. Ess. (1857) IV. 346 His wish was,..Only liberty to cut, of scrags and waste wood, what would suffice for his charring-purposes, in those wild forests. 1886Stevenson Kidnapped xviii. 174 It was a rough part, all hanging stone, and heather, and bit scrags of birchwood. 1890Glouc. Gloss., Scrag, a crooked, forked branch. 1894Blackmore Perlycross xvi, He took the springy spar of ash..and getting a good purchase against a scrag of flint, brought the convexity of his pole to bear on the topmost jag of boulder.
2. Rough, rocky and barren ground.
1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. viii. v. II. 359 Friedrich Wilhelm found it scrag and quagmire; and left it what the Tourist sees. Ibid. ix. iii. II. 426 Fields grew green again, desolate scrubs and scrags yielding to grass and corn. Ibid. xviii. x. V. 242 Nypern, with its bogs and scrags.
▪ III. scrag, n.3 slang. rare.|skræg|
[f. scrag v.: see sense 1 b, quot. 1897.]
In Rugby football, a rough tackle.
1903Wodehouse Tales of St. Austin's 105 There's all the difference between a decent tackle and a bally scrag like the one that doubled Tony up.
▪ IV. scrag, v. Chiefly slang.|skræg|
[f. scrag n.1]
1. a. trans. To hang (on the gallows).
1756W. Toldervy Hist. 2 Orphans III. 111 Many an honester man than he..has been scragg'd... Scragg'd, said she, is being hung in chains. 1780R. Tomlinson Slang Pastoral 10 If he does, he'll to Tyburn..be dragg'd, And what kiddy's so rum as to get himself scragg'd. 1827Lytton Pelham lxxxiii, If he pikes, we shall all be scragged. 1842Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. ii. Dead Drummer, So Justice was sure,..And the Sergeant, in spite of his ‘Gammon’, got ‘scragg'd’.
b. To wring the neck of; also, to garotte.
1823‘Jon Bee’ Dict. Turf 213 Cock-feeders, when they twist the necks of their dungs, call it scragging them. 1883W. E. Norris No New Thing xxv, ‘Confound the fellow!’ he exclaimed; ‘I wish to heaven his mother had scragged him when he was a baby!’ 1886W. H. Mallock Old Order Changes I. 290 That I might send some minion to meet him and have him scragged on the road. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 429/2 (Football), Scrag, (R.) to screw an opponent's neck under the arm in order to induce him to drop the ball.
c. To treat (someone) roughly, to manhandle.
1835Sessions Paper of Central Criminal Court May 87 He did not take him by the collar and shake him—he did not collar him at all till after the blow was struck, nor push him at all—I did not hear Emerson say, ‘You b―, I'll scrag you.’ 1901Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 31 Oct. 4/3 ‘What makes the crowd get up and yell?’ inquired the fairy maid. ‘They've scragged a man, they've scragged a man,’ the woolly rooter said. 1938[see knocking-shop]. 1947N. Balchin Lord, I was Afraid 52 Before he could say another word they scragged him. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 198 The term ‘scragging’ is recurrent everywhere, and seems in fact to be different from giving someone a ‘beating up’ or ‘bashing’. One boy makes the distinction: ‘To scrag is a more gentle way of having a kind of hurtful revenge. You pull his hair and take his tie off and that sort of thing.’ 1969― Children's Games vii. 219 The first one to get off, gets scragged by the other lads. 1977H. Fast Immigrants iii. 193 Now they've scragged me, ruined me, destroyed me.
d. To kill, murder. U.S.
1930D. Runyon in Collier's 20 Dec. 13/4 John the Boss is a very fine character, and it is a terrible blow to many citizens when he is scragged. 1938― Furthermore iii. 51, I see by the papers where three Brooklyn citizens are scragged. 1950Reader's Digest Nov. 57 If they aim at me they will overshoot or undershoot and scrag some scared civilian.
2. (Not slang.) To subject (a spring or suspension system) to scragging (see below). Also with out: to shorten the normal length of a spring by (a specified amount) by means of scragging.
Orig. in a different sense (see quot. 1909).
1909Webster, Scrag, Mech., to bend, as spring steel to test it. 1923T. H. Sanders Laminated Springs xi. 89 That spring would be subjected to probably another 3½ ins. or even 4 ins. test to ‘scrag out’ the unwanted 1/4 in. Ibid. xxxvii. 396 (caption) The finished spring being scragged. 1958A. D. Merriman Dict. Metall. 308/1 The spring is wound somewhat longer than the required length and then scragged by compressing it to closure several times. 1969Maxi Workshop Man. (Brit. Leyland Motor Corp.) x. A7 After fitting a new displacer unit to the front or rear suspension, the system should be scragged by raising the fluid pressure, to above its normal pressure, for a short period. 1972Pract. Motorist Oct. 87/2 If the displacer isn't scragged, it takes up a ‘set’ with the car's weight upon it—it becomes permanently compressed and the car assumes a list.
3. Comb.: scrag-boy, the hangman.
17..in W. Ireland 60 Years Ago (1847) 88 De scrag-boy may yet be outwitted.
Hence ˈscragging vbl. n., in senses of the vb.; also spec. the process of extending a new spring beyond the desired normal length, and then compressing it, in order to improve its strength and set; an analogous process applied to a hydraulic suspension system in a motor vehicle; also attrib. in scragging-post, the gallows; ˈscragger, the hangman.
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Scragging-post, the gallows. 1834H. Ainsworth Rookwood v. i. 383, I wish I was as certain of my reward, as that Turpin will eventually figure at the scragging post. 1837Dickens Pickw. x, Never mind George Barnwell,..it's always been my opinion, mind you, that the young 'ooman deserved scragging a precious sight more than he did. 1897P. Warung Old Regime 213 We're all a-stuffed in 'ere till the scragger comes along for you fellows. 1923T. H. Sanders Laminated Springs xi. 90 American practice invariably indulges in scragging machines of the ‘bull-dozer’ type. Ibid. xxxvii. 395 An illustration of ‘scragging’ as carried out in this country is shown by Fig. 201, which shows a 12-plate..spring undergoing its test. 1936Horner & Sprague Dict. Terms Mech. Engin. (ed. 6) 486 Scragging, the process of testing carriage and locomotive springs by impulsive loading. 1949A. Hynd We are Public Enemies 79 The Ash Brothers had committed the scragging. 1959‘M. Innes’ Hare sitting Up ii. iii. 61 We absolutely soaked them with our water jugs, and they gave us a wonderful scragging afterwards. 1969Maxi Workshop Man. (Brit. Leyland Motor Corp.) x. A7 (heading) Displacer unit ‘scragging’. 1977R. B. Ross Handbk. Metal Treatments & Testing 338 Scragging... The process is that the spring, when initially formed, is made longer than the design requirements. By applying the necessary compression load, the length of the spring is reduced and at the same time compressive stresses are applied to the surfaces of the spring.
Add:[1.] e. [Perh. back-formation on scraggy a.1, with ref. to the resultant appearance.] To scrape or drag (one's hair) back or up. Also transf. rare.
1937N. Coward Present Indicative i. 63 Stoj's appearance at night with her hair scragged back in Hinde's curlers. 1958L. Durrell Mountolive xv. 291 Their little faces were heavily painted, their hair scragged up in ribbons and plaits. 1981B. Ashley Dodgem vi. 132 The net curtain was scragged aside and she was over the sill. |