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.