RAKE


Meaning of RAKE in English

I. rake 1 /reɪk/ BrE AmE noun

[ Sense 1-2: Language: Old English ; Origin: racu ]

[ Sense 3: Date: 1600-1700 ; Origin: Origin unknown ]

1 . [countable] a gardening tool with a row of metal teeth at the end of a long handle, used for making soil level, gathering up dead leaves etc:

a garden rake

2 . [countable] old-fashioned a man who has many sexual relationships, drinks too much alcohol etc

3 . [singular] the angle of a slope:

the rake of the stage

II. rake 2 BrE AmE verb

1 . [intransitive and transitive] to move a rake across a surface in order to make the soil level, gather dead leaves etc

rake something over/up

She raked the soil over to loosen the weeds.

2 . [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to search a place very carefully for something

rake through/around

I’ve been raking through my drawers looking for those tickets.

3 . [transitive] to point something such as a gun, camera, or strong light, and keep moving it across an area SYN sweep :

The searchlight raked the open ground around the prison.

rake something with something

They raked the room with gunfire.

4 . [transitive] to push a stick backwards and forwards in a fire in order to remove ↑ ash es

5 . rake over the past/old coals to keep talking about something that happened in the past that people would prefer you not to mention

6 . rake your fingers (through something) to pull your fingers through something or across a surface:

Ken raked his fingers through his hair.

rake something ↔ in phrasal verb informal

to earn a lot of money without trying very hard:

Lou’s been raking in the dollars since he opened his business.

If someone opened a burger bar, they’d really rake it in.

rake something ↔ up phrasal verb informal

1 . to talk about something from the past that people would prefer you not to mention SYN dredge up :

It upsets Dad when that story is raked up again.

2 . ( also rake something ↔ together ) to collect things or people together for a purpose, but with difficulty:

They could only rake up $300.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.