(~s)
1.
A ~ is a piece of old cloth which you can use to clean or wipe things.
He was wiping his hands on an oily ~.
N-VAR
2.
Rags are old torn clothes.
There were men, women and small children, some dressed in ~s.
N-PLURAL
3.
People refer to a newspaper as a ~ when they have a poor opinion of it. (INFORMAL)
‘This man Tom works for a local ~,’ he said.
N-COUNT disapproval
4.
see also ~ged
5.
You use ~s to riches to describe the way in which someone quickly becomes very rich after they have been quite poor.
His was a ~s-to-riches story and people admire that.
PHRASE
6.
If you describe something as a red ~ to a bull, you mean that it is certain to make a particular person or group very angry. (mainly BRIT)
This sort of information is like a red ~ to a bull for the tobacco companies.
PHRASE: v-link PHR, like PHR