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2295 entries found
raffle (v.)
"dispose of by raffle," 1851, from raffle (n.). Related: Raffled; raffling.
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raffle (n.)
late 14c., "dice game," from Old French rafle "dice game," also "plundering," perhaps from a Germanic source (compare Middle Dutch raffel "dice game," Old Frisian hreppa "to move," Old Norse hreppa "to reach, get," Swedish rafs "rubbish," Old High German raspon "to scrape together, snatch up in haste," German raffen "to snatch away, sweep off"), from Proto-Germanic *khrap- "to pluck out, snatch off." The notion would be "to sweep up (the stakes), to snatch (the winnings)." Dietz connects the French word with the Germanic root, but OED is against this. Meaning "sale of chances" first recorded 1766.
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Rafflesia (n.)
genus of Malaysian plants, 1820, named for Sir T. Stamford Raffles (1781-1826), British governor of Sumatra, who introduced it to the West, + abstract noun ending -ia. He reports the native name was petimum sikinlili "Devil's betel-box."
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raft (v.)
1680s, from raft (n.1). Related: Rafted; rafting.
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raft (n.1)
"floating platform," late 15c., originally "rafter" (c. 1300), from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse raptr "log" (Old Norse -pt- pronounced as -ft-), related to Middle Low German rafter, rachter "rafter" (see rafter).
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raft (n.2)
"large collection," 1830, variant of raff "heap, large amount," from Middle English raf (compare raffish, riffraff); form and sense associated with raft (n.1).
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rafter (n.)
"sloping timber of a roof," Old English ræftras (West Saxon), reftras (Mercian), both plural, related to Old Norse raptr "log," from Proto-Germanic *raf-tra-, from PIE *rap-tro-, from root *rep- "stake, beam."
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rag (n.)
scrap of cloth, early 14c., probably from Old Norse rögg "shaggy tuft," earlier raggw-, or possibly from Old Danish rag (see rug), or a back-formation from ragged, It also may represent an unrecorded Old English cognate of Old Norse rögg. In any case, from Proto-Germanic *rawwa-, from PIE root *reue- (2) "to smash, knock down, tear up, uproot" (see rough (adj.)).

As an insulting term for "newspaper, magazine" it dates from 1734; slang for "tampon, sanitary napkin" is attested from 1930s (on the rag "menstruating" is from 1948). Rags "personal clothing" is from 1855 (singular), American English. Rags-to-riches "rise from poverty to wealth" is attested by 1896. Rag-picker is from 1860; rag-shop from 1829.
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rag (v.)
"scold," 1739, of unknown origin; perhaps related to Danish dialectal rag "grudge." Related: Ragged; ragging. Compare bullyrag, ballarag "intimidate" (1807).
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rag-bag (n.)

1820, from rag (n.1) + bag (n.). Figurative sense of "motley collection" is by 1864.

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