| 释义 |
▪ I. shag, n.1|ʃæg|
Forms: 1 sceacga, 6–7 shage, 7 shagge, 7–9 shagg, 7– shag.
[OE. sceacga wk. masc.:—prehistoric *skaggon-, cogn. w. ON. skegg neut., beard (:—*skagjo-m), OE. sceaᵹa wk. masc., coppice, shaw (formally = ON. skage wk. masc., promontory:—*skagon-), ON. skaga to project; the ON. skóg-r, a wood, shows a different ablaut-grade of the root. Cf. OHG. scahho wk. masc., promontory (:—*skakon-), which may be more distantly related.
The OE. word occurs once (in a gloss), and the derivative sceacgede shagged a.1 twice. Otherwise neither the n. nor any of its derivatives has been found before the latter part of the 16th c.]
1. a. Rough matted hair, wool, etc. rare or arch.
c1050Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 379/41 Coma, feax, sceacga. 1601Holland Pliny viii. xxxiii. I. 214 Of the same kind is the Goat hart, and differing onely in the beard and long shag about the shoulders. 1697Phil. Trans XIX. 410 Many Prickles interspersed among the Hairy Shag that covered the sides. a1732Gay Fables ii. v. 69 A Bear of shagg and manners rough, At climbing trees expert enough. 1771tr. Pernety's Voy. Malouine Isl. (1773) 289 They have a sort of buskins or half-boots, made of the same skins, with the shag on the inside. 1809W. Irving Knickerb. v. vii. (1820) 343 A rugged mop of hair, not a little resembling the shag of a Newfoundland dog. 1869Bushnell Woman Suffrage iii. 50 The base in his voice and the shag on his face. 1898C. F. Lummis Awak. Nation 104 It is a purely leonine type—not by bulk or shag, but by look and port.
b. A mass of matted hair; also shreds (of bark).
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 626 For what [wool] which was rough and thicke in ancient time, was vsed for this purpose, and also to make garments, hauing the shags thereof hanging by it like rugs. 1610J. Guillim Her. iii. xv. (1660) 180 The King of Judah was then like a Sleeping Lyon, which did not shew his rage with his erected shag. 1882Harper's Mag. May 870/1 Nuts which have been packed away and wedged beneath the loose shags of bark.
c. The nap (esp. long and coarse) of cloth.
a1661B. Holyday Juvenal ii. Notes (1673) 25 Then their Galbana rasa, white smooth sarcenet without hair or shag;..of this our Women now wear hoods. 1716Gay Trivia i. 47 Fine Witney Broad-Cloath with it's Shag unshorn. 1844G. Dodd Textile Manuf. vi. 201 The face [of velvet] has a short shag, or ‘pile’, occasioned by the insertion of short pieces of silk thread doubled under the shoot. 1851–3Tomlinson's Cycl. Usef. Arts (1867) II. 329/1 Plush, a textile fabric, with a sort of velvet nap or shag on one side.
d. transf. Applied to thick down on plants.
1773Phil. Trans. LXIII. 365 The shag [Fr. la pluche], or inner part of these flowers. 1854Pappe Silva Capensis (1862) 18 Twigs, petioles, calyces and underside of leaves densely coated with brown shag. Ibid. 19 Petioles and veins clothed with a dense rusty shag.
e. A (tangled) mass of shrubs, trees, foliage, etc.
1836Struthers Dychmont i. Poet. Wks. (1850) II. 50 Were thy broomy shag but shorn, Thou might'st be made to wave with corn. 1855Browning Up at a Villa iii, Stuck like the horn of a bull Just on a mountain's edge as bare as the creature's skull, Save a mere shag of a bush with hardly a leaf to pull! 1877Blackmore Erema lii. III. 190 Dark shags of ling, and podded spurs of broom. 1905M. E. Wilkins Debtor 60 He could see the gleam of the current through the shag of young trees which found root in the unpromising soil. Ibid. 396 Only the oak-leaves, a brownish-red shag mostly on the lower branches, were left on the trees.
f. fig. Roughness, brutality of manner.
1784Cowper Task v. 693 As if, like him of fabulous renown [i.e. Orpheus], They had indeed ability to smooth The shag of savage nature. 1809Malkin Gil Blas viii. xiii. (Rtldg.) 308 This metamorphose into the shag of a savage is not perceptible to myself.
2. A cloth having a velvet nap on one side, usually of worsted, but sometimes of silk. Also, a kind or variety of this.
1592Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1860) II. 211 Three quarters of blacke shage, 12s. 1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. iii. Colonies 71 Chiorze, where Buls as big As Elephants are clad in silken shag. 1612[F. Beaumont] Masque Inner Temple D 1 b, The high Priest a cap of white silke shagge close to his head, with two labels at the eares [etc.]. 1623Sir R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) II. 86, I..gaue him ordre to bring for me..crymson shagg and Spangled Lace for winter Clothes for my Children. 1769De Foe, etc. Tour Gt. Brit. (ed. 7) III. 280 The Woollen Manufacture called Half-thicks, Frizes, and Shags. 1725Sadberge (Durham) Par. Reg., A..cushion of red shagg. 1781Phil. Trans. LXXI. 72 The Indians make a most elegant cloathing..as fine as a silk shag. 1805J. Luccock Nat. Wool 277 The blanket manufacture at Witney, and that of worsted shaggs at Banbury. 1825Scott Talism. xvii, A cap of rough shag. 1855Leifchild Cornwall 179 Engine Shag and Poldavey 1,119 yards. 1887Fortn. Rev. Aug. 294 The King, says Petion, wore a coat of dark shag, and his linen was not clean.
3.
†a. A garment, rug, or mat of shaggy material.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 97 At the end sate the Pot⁓shaugh or great King..his seat hauing two or three white silke shags vpon the Carpets. 1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 50 A [magnified] Sage Leaf looks like a white Rugge, or Shagge, full of Knots, tassel'd all with white silver Thrums. 1681T. Jordan London's Joy 9 St. Patric..a gray Mantle with a thick shag about his Neck of large green Silk and Gold fringes. 1738[G. Smith] Cur. Relat. II. 361 Twelve Royal travelling Coaches..; one Set of Shags. 1827Carlyle Germ. Rom. III. 229 The Regiments-Quartermaster..embaled in a long woollen shag. 1854R. S. Surtees Handley Cross xiv, His hunting clothes, consisting of a roomy scarlet coat,..drab shags, and mahogany-coloured tops.
b. Westminster School slang. (See quot. 1902.)
1902R. Airy Westminster 108 Any coat other than an ‘Eton’ or ‘tails’ is a ‘shag’.
c. ellipt. A shag carpet or rug; shag pile. See sense 6 c below.
1951K. R. Gillespie Home Furnishings v. 164 A few cotton floor coverings woven on standard carpet backs have come into the market, in addition to the bouclé weaves, shags, [etc.]. 1974Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 18 Apr. (Sears Advts. Suppl.) 5 Nylon pile shag. Long shag that's slow to show soil! 1976H. Nielsen Brink of Murder xii. 108 The floor was carpeted with soft yellow shag.
4. (In full shag tobacco.) A strong tobacco cut into fine shreds.
1789Act 29 Geo. III, c. 68 §127 Upon the exportation of any short cut tobacco, shag tobacco, roll tobacco, and carrot tobacco. 1823in Spirit Publ. Jrnls. 527 Porter and pop, mirth-moving max, and fragrant shag. 1840Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story i, A constant and agreeable odour of shag tobacco. 1862Cornh. Mag. VI. 607 One pipe..of Virginian tobacco in the shape of bird's-eye or shag. 1876J. Dunning Tobacco 17 ‘Shag’ is the generic name of all those varieties of leaf which have passed through the cutting machine.
¶5. ? Used for snag. [Cf. shagged a.1 2 c; but perh. a misprint.]
1649J. Taylor (Water-P.) Wand. West 6 At a stile I had a great disaster, for a shagge or splinter of the stile tooke hold of my one and onely breeches.
6. attrib. and Comb.
a. simple attrib., as shag edging, shag manufactory, shag manufacture; shag boy, dial. = shag foal (b); shag end N. Amer. colloq. = fag-end 2; shag foal dial., (a) ‘a foal with its first year's coat on’ (N.W. Linc. Gloss. 1877); (b) a hobgoblin (see quots. 1847, 1856); † shag sponge, a ‘muricate’ sponge.
1882M. G. Watkins In Country (1883) 210 Fairies and *shag-boys! lasses are often skeart at them, but I never saw none. 1884G. S. Streatfeild Linc. & Danes 357 Shag-boy also Shag-foal, a ghost.
1808Trans. Soc. Arts XXVI. p. x, The ingenious Implement..for cutting *Shag Edgings.
1972J. Mosher Adultery iv. xxi. 176 It was the *shag end of winter and there were scarcely any victuals to be had. 1977G. V. Higgins Dreamland i. 13 The years that came between that night..and the shag end of 1971.
1847Halliwell, *Shag-foal, a sort of ghost or spectre, which under this appearance is thought by the common people to haunt different parts of the county. Linc. 1856P. Thompson Hist. Boston 722 Shag-foal, a hobgoblin in the shape of a small rough horse. Ibid. 736.
1780A. Young Tour Irel. i. 278 Bandon was once the seat of the stuff, camblet, and *shag manufacture.
1794R. Davis Agric. Oxford 26 The *shag manufactory at Banbury.
a1776J. Ellis Zoophytes (1786) 185 Spongia muricata. *Shagg Sponge.
b. passing into adj., composed or made of ‘shag’ (sense 2).
1611Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl ii. i. D 1 b, I am going to buy a shag ruffe. 1621in Kempe Losely MSS. (1836) 426 For 17 yards of fyne doble shagg bayes, for Gilbert's murning cloake [etc.]. 1706in C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet (1894) 493 Striped shag breeches, lined with linen. 1836Marryat Japhet xxxix, He was dressed in highlow boots,..a shag waistcoat, and a blue frock overall. 1911B. Capes Loaves & Fishes 181 Wandering unsociable in a shag coat.
c. Of carpets, rugs, etc.: having a long, rough, pile. Also shag pile. Cf. shaggy a. 1 c.
1946House Beautiful Oct. 199 (Advt.), Charm Tred Shag Cotton Rugs. 1947Sun (Baltimore) 1 Dec. 13/4 (Advt.), Heavy Loop Pile Shag Rugs. 1969D. E. Westlake Up your Banners (1970) xlii. 309 The silence had the texture of a shag rug. 1974Times 3 May 11/4 Kosset Panorama, the cheapest shag carpet I have seen. Ibid. 12 Aug. 22/8 (Advt.), Carpets..Shag Piles and Berber Weaves.
▪ II. shag, n.2|ʃæg|
Forms: 6 schagge, 7 shagge, 7–9 shagg, 7– shag.
[Perh. a use of shag n.1 or shag a., with reference to the ‘shaggy’ crest.]
a. A cormorant, esp. the crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax graculus, which in the breeding season has a crest of long curly plumes.
Also with defining name, applied to several varieties of the cormorant, and sometimes erroneously to the common shag at different periods of its age, under the idea that it is a different variety.
1566Act 8 Eliz. c. 15 §2 For euery head of..Busarde, Schagge, Carmeraunt, or Ryngtayle, two pence. 1602Carew Cornwall i. 35 Curlewes, Teale, Widgeon, Burranets, Shags, Duck and Mallard. a1672Willughby Ornith. (1676) 249 Corvus aquaticus minor sive Graculus palmipes. The Shag. 1729J. Wood Voy. 85 An island which is much frequented by a sort of Fowl which are called Shaggs, that live mostly upon fish. 1769Cook 1st Voy. in Hawkesworth Voy. (1773) II. 339 Plenty of wild fowl, principally shags, ducks, curlieus, and the sea-pie. 1785Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds III. ii. 600 Crested Shag. Pelecanus cristatus. Ibid., Violet Shag. Ibid. 601 Red-faced Shag. Ibid. 602 Spotted Shag. Ibid. 603 Carunculated Shag. Ibid. 604 Magellanic Shag. Ibid. 605 Pied Shag. Ibid. 606 Tufted Shag. Ibid., African Shag. Ibid. 607 Dwarf Shag. 1824― Gen. Hist. Birds X. 423 Chinese Shag. Ibid. 425 Brown-necked Shag. Ibid. 431 New Holland shag. 1841J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk I. 288 Cormorants, or shaggs, as they are more commonly termed. 1841Selby in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. No. ix. 255 The common cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), and the crested shag (P. cristatus), are permanent residents. 1861Coues in Proc. Philad. Acad. 241 Both this [Graculus dilophus] and the G. carbo are universally known as ‘Shags’. 1879Beerbohm Patagonia ii. 12 We startled a large covey of shag, which, to judge by the accumulation of guano, appeared to roost there habitually. 1885Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) IV. 191 New Zealand is especially rich in shags,..having not less than thirteen species, amongst these the curiously colored spotted shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus). Ibid., Flock after flock of violet-green shags (P. pelagicus) came up to the steamer.
Phrase.1835Marryat Jac. Faithf. xx, I'm as wet as a shag, and as cold as charity. 1841in Col. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 197 Came home in the middle of the day ‘as wet as a shag’, it having come on to pour.
b. transf. a shag on a rock: used in various Austral. colloq. phrases as a type of the isolated or exposed.
1845R. Howitt Impressions of Australia Felix 233 ‘Poor as a bandicoot’, ‘miserable as a shag on a rock’, &c.; these and others I very frequently heard them make. 1929J. Raeside Golden Days 16 The flood waters did not subside, and we were there like three shags on a rock. 1971D. Ireland Unknown Industrial Prisoner 275 It's easy enough to curse England. Leaving us out here like a shag on a rock.
c. attrib. shag cormorant, † pelican, the shag; shag-like adv., in the manner of a shag.
1826Stephens in Shaw Gen. Zool. XIII. i. 82 *Shag cormorant (Phalacrocorax Graculus).
1896T. E. Brown Lett. (1900) II. 165 Indications (stage-directions, hints like yours) send one skimming *shag-like over the water.
1785Pennant Arctic Zool. II. 581 *Shag Pelecan.
▪ III. shag, n.3
In 6 shagge.
[f. shag v.1]
†a. A shake. Obs.
b. dial. The refuse of barley, corn, oats, etc. Cf. shack n.1 2.
1581Rich Farew. (1846) 166 When she sawe she waked not, she laied her hand upon her, and givyng her a shagge, she said withall, Mistres, awake! my maister calleth for you. 1822Edin. Caled. Mercury 9 Dec. (Jam.), Mr. Robert Meiklejohn, brewer, Alloa, sowed a quantity of shag, from English barley,..being the skimmings of his malt cisterns. 1823Ibid. 13 Nov. (Jam.), Oats have about ten times the quantity of shag they had last year. 1856Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 725 (Provincialisms.) Shagg, (Stirlings.), tail corn.
▪ IV. shag, n.4
In 7 shagge.
[? var. of shack n.2 Cf. shag-rag.]
A low, rascally fellow.
1620T. Granger Div. Logike 170 Shagge, a terme of reproach semes to come of Shog, Shagag, or Shag heb. to do vnadvisedlie [etc.]. 1790Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2), Shag, or Shack, a blackguard. Suffolk. 1801C. Smith Lett. Solit. Wand. I. 352 Was now under the hard necessity of becoming shag, fag, skip, or whatever the boys in the higher forms chose to insist upon.
▪ V. shag, n.5
variant of shack n.4
▪ VI. shag, n.6 coarse slang.
[f. shag v.3]
a. An act of copulation.
1937Partridge Dict. Slang 748/2 Shag, a copulation; also, copulation generically. 1971B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 114 It was not just a good shag I needed. It was romance.
b. One who copulates. rare.
1971K. Amis Girl, 20 ii. 76 Ageing shag tries to stimulate jaded appetite by re-creating situation of days of first discovery of sex. 1978― Jake's Thing ix. 94 The moustached shag and the flat-chested bint..had moved away from the bar with their drinks.
▪ VII. shag, n.7
[Perh. f. shag v.2 or v.3]
A dance popular esp. in the U.S. in the 1930s and 1940s, and characterized by vigorous hopping from one foot to the other. Hence as v. intr., to dance the shag; ˈshagger1, one who dances the shag.
1932(title of jazz tune) Shag. 1937[see Big Apple s.v. big a. B. 2]. 1938Sun (Baltimore) 24 June 4/3 The Virginia reel, the shag, the sugarfoot and trucking predominate on the dance program. 1939Ramsey & Smith Jazzmen xiii. 271 The Crescent Billiard Hall..frequented by the best shaggers in town. Ibid., Usually when Brunions reaches the third chorus..the kids have stopped shagging. 1940Time 29 Jan. 17/1 A citizenry shagging to the tune of Oh Johnny! refused to take the 1940 Campaign seriously. 1954Dannett & Rachel Down Memory Lane 131 The shag is a fast, nervous, hopping dance, performed in time to a strongly accentuated rhythm. 1963N.Y. Times Mag. 27 Oct. 104/2 [The Negroes'] body rhythm and frank sensuality turned the formal European waltz into..the shag, the Susie Q. and the big Apple.
▪ VIII. shag, a. Now rare or arch.|ʃæg|
Also 6 shagg, 7 shagge.
[From attrib. use of shag n.1]
1. Having shaggy hair.
Formerly sometimes hyphened, as shag-dog.
1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 295 Round hooft, short ioynted, fetlocks shag, and long. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 201 Black—long—shag—curld heads. 1638Ford Lady's Trial iii. i, A' has chang'd Haire with a shagge dogge. 1642(title) An exact Description of a Roundhead and a long-headed Shag-Poll. c1645Howell Lett. iv. xxxiii. (1892) II. 612 The Shag-dog was so well bred, that his Master us'd to send him by himself to Smithfield Shambles. c1670Wood Life (O.H.S.) I. 199 He..had a curl'd shag-pate, was squint⁓ey'd and purblind. 1760Impostors Detected iii. viii. II. 77 Two hundred of these creatures [monkeys], mounted on shag dogs came first. 1883A. Dobson Old World Ballads 181 Huddling they came, with shag sides caked of mire, With hoofs fresh sullied from the troughs o'erturned. 1892Kipling Barrack-room Ballads 97 The picketed ponies, shag and wild, Strained at their ropes.
2. Of hair, a mane, etc.: Long and rough, shaggy.
c1596Sir T. More iii. ii. 111 How long Hath this shagg fleece hung dangling on thy head? Ibid. 118 When were you last at barbars? how longe time Have you vppon your head woorne this shagg haire? 1601Holland Pliny xvii. xxii. I. 532 Sheepe..with their shag-coats. 1611Tourneur Ath. Trag. ii. F 2, The Gentleman took the dog in shagge⁓haire to be some Watch-man in a rugge gowne. 1639T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 314 Clip away the long shag haire from about the pasternes. 1647Hexham i, Shagge haire, Ruygh hayr. 1975R. L. Duncan Dragons at Gate (1976) i. 12 Jenkins feigned the appearance of his early thirties..sandy-colored shag hair.
3. Comb., as shag-bearded, shag-eared, shag-faced, shag-footed, shag-woolled, etc.
1907H. Trench New Poems 10 *Shag-bearded pines, All gnarled, loom down.
1907Black Cat June 26 Dogged at every step by the sinister, velvet-footed march of *shag-coated wolves.
1605Shakes. Macb. iv. ii. 83 Thou ly'st thou *shagge-ear'd [mod. edd. shag-haired] Villaine. Mur. What you Egge? 1884N. & Q. Ser. vi. IX. 133/2, I have frequently heard a Shetland pony called ‘shag-ear'd just like a moke’.
1716R. Arbuthnot in Stuart Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm. 1904) II. 218 Macdonald..is a *shag-faced, thin fellow.
1901J. Barlow Land of Shamrock 222 Gulls..swooping about among the *shag-footed, tramping plough-horses.
1821Scott Kenilw. xv, Half a score of *shag-headed Irish kernes.
1612Drayton Poly-olb. xiii. 139 Flocks of *shag-wooll'd Sheepe.
▪ IX. † shag, v.1 Obs. rare.
Also 4–5 schagge.
[Of obscure origin: cf. shake v., shog v.]
a. trans. To toss about.
b. intr. To shake, waggle. Hence † ˈshagging vbl. n.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 374 And þe boot, amydde þe water, was shaggid [v.r. schoggyd; 1388 ― Bible Matt. xiv. 24 schoggid; Vulg. jactabatur] wiþ wawis. a1400Pistil of Susan 106 Þe chouwet, þe cheuerol, þat schaggen on niht. c1440Promp. Parv. 443/1 Schaggynge, schoggynge, or waverynge, vacillacio. 1572L. Mascall Plant. & Graff. v. (1592) 28 But alwayes take good heede to the binding of your heds that they waxe slack, or shagge, neyther on the one side or other, but remaine fast vpon the clay.
▪ X. shag, v.2|ʃæg|
[f. shag n.1]
†1. intr. To be shaggy; to hang down in a shaggy manner. Obs. rare.
1596Spenser F.Q. v. ix. 10 Long curld locks, that downe his shoulders shagged. 1801C. Smith Lett. Solit. Wand. II. 90 But here are vines planted on hills, and shagging like copse-wood in England.
2. trans. To render rough or shaggy, esp. the surface of the earth, a hill-side, a rock, etc. (with a growth of trees or the like). Chiefly in pa. pple.
1612Peacham Gentl. Exerc. ii. vi. (1634) 121 His neather parts of a Goate declare the inequality of the earth being rough and shagged as it were with trees, plants, hils, &c. 1634Milton Comus 429 Caverns shag'd with horrid shades. 1726–46Thomson Winter 281 The Swain..sees other hills ascend, Of unknown joyless brow; and other scenes, Of horrid prospect, shag the trackless plain. 1806R. Mant Poems i. 32 Where seas extend of everlasting ice, And horror shaggs the unsunn'd precipice. 1873Howells Chance Acquaintance iii. 74 The woods that hitherto have shagged the hills with a stunted and meager growth,..now assume a stately size. 1894Blackmore Perlycross 196 The fringe of the dominant black weed, like heavy brows, shagging the outlook. 1897F. Thompson New Poems, Ode Setting Sun 113 Who lit the furnace of the mammoth's heart? Who shagged him like Pilatus' ribbèd flanks?
†b. To make a long or rough nap or pile on (a cloth or other material). Obs. rare.
1671E. Blood in Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Weaving (1861) 1 A rich silk shagg..made of a silke wast..and shagged by tezell or rowing cardes, like as English bayes, rowed fustians, or dimatyes.
▪ XI. shag, v.3 coarse slang.|ʃæg|
[Origin unknown, perh. f. shag v.1]
1. trans. and intr. To copulate (with).
1788Grose Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 2), Shag, to copulate. 1879–80Pearl (1970) 258 A fellow who's had the mishap, To forget, when he shagged her, to button his flap. 1958N. Levine Canada made Me iv. 102 You know what they're talking about? If they got shagged last night. 1969J. Wood Three Blind Mice iii. 32 We..go and shag ourselves half-stupid all night..and pay them for it in the morning! 1973Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 24–30 Aug. 1417/4 The credo of the new fashioned mammy is if you shag, I shag. 1977C. McCullough Thorn Birds xvii. 413 There are plenty of men who will shag anything if it's a virgin. 1980R. Adams Girl in Swing xxi. 279 ‘He's never absent.’ And the corporal next to Jack muttered, ‘Well, I 'ope 'e ain't 'angin' around when I'm shaggin' my missus.’
2. Used profanely in imprecations and exclamations. Cf. fuck v. 2 and sense 1 of next.
1933M. Lowry Ultramarine ii. 88 ‘Paddy—give us Paddy McGulligan's daughter, Mary Ann.’ ‘Oh shag off!’ 1971R. Ludlum Scarlatti Inheritance iv. 43 ‘Get four men and get out there.’ ‘Go shag, Captain.’ ‘Are you disobeying your superior officer?’ 1973G. Pinsent Rowdyman 135 ‘Then shag you!’ I shouted, as he swaggered away.
Hence ˈshagger2; ˈshagging vbl. n.2 and ppl. a.
1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 41 All the vulgar linguistic emphasis is placed upon the poking element;..rooting, shagging are..acts performed upon the passive female. 1971B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 9 God, what sodding, shagging, scab-devouring misery it all was! Ibid. 12, I could watch my reflection in the mirror of the wardrobe... Now there was a born shagger, if ever I saw one, given the chance. 1977Zigzag Aug. 4/3 Plus the fact it gets hotter than shagging in the back of a car during the summer of '76.
▪ XII. shag, v.4|ʃæg|
[Origin unknown. Possibly connected with shag v.1 or (esp. in sense 1) v.3; but it is not even certain that senses 1 and 2 belong to the same verb.]
1. intr. To make off; to wander aimlessly; to traipse. Freq. with advbs. slang.
When followed by off there is some overlap with sense 2 of shag v.3
1851Gloss. Provinc. Words Gloucs. 11 Shag, to steal away. 1932J. T. Farrell Young Lonigan iv. 192 He watched a familiar looking airedale dog shag about. 1938D. Runyon Furthermore xiv. 278 The Princess is getting too grown-up to be shagging around Broadway, and..she is now going to public school. 1968‘B. Mather’ Springers xv. 162 I'll take you into Russia with me—or you can shag off on your own. 1976W. H. Canaway Willow-Pattern War xiv. 140 We'd been shagging around over these mountains for four days now, and we hadn't seen one single musk deer.
2. trans. To chase. Also const. up. spec. in Baseball, to go for or catch (fly balls). U.S. colloq.
1913C. H. Claudy Battle of Baseball 318, I was allowed to ‘shag’ foul balls. 1932J. T. Farrell Young Lonigan ii. 66 Demons..would come and lean over his bed..until his old man came and shagged them away. 1955Sun (Baltimore) 3 Mar. 19/8 Coan..shagged flies under the tutelage of Coach Tom Oliver. 1979Navajo Times (Window Rock, Arizona) 24 May 15/1, I was originally picked as an outfielder, so I played two years shagging balls in the outfield. 1981G. V. Higgins Rat on Fire v. 37 Every so often..I got to shag up a couple of guys who haven't told a clean joke in years and give the guy free entertainment. |