I. ˈshag, -aa(ə)-, -ai- noun
( -s )
Etymology: from (assumed) Middle English shagge, from Old English sceacga; akin to Old English scēon to go quickly, happen, Old High German skehan to befall, happen, Old Norse skegg beard, skaga to project, Old Irish scuchim I depart, Old Slavic skokŭ leap; basic meaning: to jump, project
1.
a. : coarse matted wool, hair, or fiber
the shag of a woolly dog
b. : a matted or tangled mass of hair or fiber
his great shag of eyebrow — Eugene Walter
c. : long nap on cloth or felt
shag rug
d. : a tangled or matted mass of bushes, trees, or foliage : thicket
2.
a. archaic : a worsted or silk cloth with a nap
b. : a shaggy garment or mat
3. : a strong coarse tobacco cut into fine shreds
4. : cormorant ; especially : a European cormorant ( Phalacrocorax aristotelis ) that breeds in Great Britain — called also green cormorant
II. adjective
: shaggy
shag pony
III. verb
( shagged ; shagged ; shagging ; shags )
intransitive verb
: to fall or hang in shaggy masses
a mean horse … with his head down a little and the mane shagged forward between the ears — R.P.Warren
transitive verb
: to make rough, jagged, or shaggy especially by covering with shag or shaggy matter
junipers shagged with ice — Wallace Stevens
the long low wagons … returning in the evening shagged with hay — Virginia Woolf
IV. transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English shaggen to toss about, probably alteration of shoggen to jolt, shake — more at shog
chiefly dialect : toss , peg
shag a stone across a pond
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: probably short for shagrag (I)
: rascal , blackguard
VI. noun
( -s )
Etymology: probably alteration of shack (I)
: refuse barley or other grains
VII. transitive verb
( shagged ; shagged ; shagging ; shags )
Etymology: origin unknown
1.
a. : to chase after : chase away
if another dog came in the yard he got shagged in a terrible hurry — P.D.Boles
fields, where you shagged flies and slid home with the winning run — Irwin Shaw
b. : to run an errand after : fetch
c. : follow ; specifically : to follow closely and push forward with harassment
shag your crew in here — Allan Bruce
2. slang : to run after with intent to copulate
VIII. intransitive verb
( shagged ; shagged ; shagging ; shags )
Etymology: perhaps alteration of shack (III)
: to move along in a steady easy usually slow gait : lope
IX. noun
( -s )
Etymology: probably from shag (VIII)
: a dance step consisting of a lively hopping on each foot in turn
X. intransitive verb
( shagged ; shagged ; shagging ; shags )
: to dance the shag