verbWord forms: rags, ragging or ragged(transitive)
1.
to draw attention facetiously and persistently to the shortcomings or alleged shortcomings of (a person)
2. British
to play rough practical jokes on
noun
3. British
a boisterous practical joke, esp one on a fellow student
4. (in British universities)
a.
a period, usually a week, in which various events are organized to raise money for charity, including a procession of decorated floats and tableaux
b.
(as modifier)
rag day
Word origin
C18: of uncertain origin
ragging in American English
(ˈræɡɪŋ)
noun
Engineering(in the rolls of a rolling mill)
corrugations affording a grip on a piece being roughed
Word origin
[rag3 + -ing1]-ing is a suffix of nouns formed from verbs, expressing the action of the verb or itsresult, product, material, etc. (the art of building; a new building; cotton wadding). It is also used to form nouns from words other than verbs (offing; shirting). Verbal nouns ending in -ing are often used attributively (the printing trade) and in forming compounds (drinking song). In some compounds (sewing machine), the first element might reasonably be regarded as the participial adjective, -ing, the compound thus meaning “a machine that sews,” but it is commonly taken as a verbalnoun, the compound being explained as “a machine for sewing”