/ reɪk; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C ] a garden tool with a long handle and a row of metal points at the end, used for gathering fallen leaves and making soil smooth
2.
[ C ] ( old-fashioned ) a man, especially a rich and fashionable one, who is thought to have low moral standards, for example because he drinks or gambles a lot or has sex with a lot of women
3.
[ sing. ] ( technical ) the amount by which sth, especially the stage in a theatre, slopes
■ verb
1.
to pull a rake over a surface in order to make it level or to remove sth :
[ vn ]
The leaves had been raked into a pile.
( figurative )
She raked a comb through her hair.
[ vn - adj ]
First rake the soil smooth.
[also v ]
2.
[ vn ] to point a camera, light, gun, etc. at sb/sth and move it slowly from one side to the other :
They raked the streets with machine-gun fire.
Searchlights raked the grounds.
3.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] to search a place carefully for sth :
She raked around in her bag for her keys.
4.
[ vn , v ] to scratch the surface of sth with a sharp object, especially your nails
•
IDIOMS
- rake sb over the coals
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- rake in sth
- rake over sth
- rake sth up
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun sense 1 and verb pvsym. and idsym. Old English raca , racu , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch raak and German Rechen , from a base meaning heap up; the verb is partly from Old Norse raka to scrape, shave.
noun sense 2 mid 17th cent.: abbreviation of archaic rakehell in the same sense.
noun sense 3 early 17th cent.: probably related to German ragen to project, of unknown ultimate origin; compare with Swedish raka .