fagn.1
/faɡ/, U.S. /fæɡ/ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > [noun] > imperfection in
fag1463
nib1771
mote1842
1463–5 Rolls of Parl.: Edward IV (Electronic ed.) Parl. Apr. 1463 §17. m. 4 In case that eny such diversite, or rawe, scawe, kokell or fagge happen to be in eny part of the seid clothes.
1764 T. Cunningham New & Compl. Law-Dict. II. Fag, a knot or excrescency in cloth. [Also in later dictionaries.]
2. Any of various parasitic insects which infect sheep, esp. the sheep tick, Melophagus ovinus; = sheep-fag n. at sheep n. Compounds 2. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Cyclorrhapha > group Pupipara or Nymphipara > family Hippoboscidae > melophagus ovinus (sheep-tick)
sheep-louse14..
sheep-tickc1425
ked1570
sheep-fly1658
fag1788
1788 J. Banks Let. in Ann. Reg. 1789 (1792) Useful Projects 71/1 The use of it..preserved the animal from being vexed either with the scab or faggs.
1863 J. Gamgee Our Domest. Animals Health & Dis. xiv. 210 The ticks, keds, or fags which are found on the skins of horses, cattle, sheep, and dogs, are parasitic species of the genus Ixodes or Ricinus of Latreille.
1871 Entomologist 5 307 In a badly-fed and neglected flock the fags increase rapidly.
1919 K. Winslow & A. Eichhorn Vet. Materia Medica & Therapeutics (ed. 8) 590 Melophagus ovinus, commonly called the ‘sheeptick’, ked or fag.
2010 P. Marren & R. Mabey Bugs Britannica 120/2 Ticks Acarina. vn [vernacular names]: fags, kebs (Orkney), keds, sheep lice, sheep pest, sheep-taids, taids.
Compounds
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > [noun] > sheep washing or dipping > sheep-wash or -dip
sheep-watera1722
fag water1848
sheep-wash1858
sheep-dip1865
dip1871
wash1933
1792 W. Redhead Observ. Different Breeds Sheep 40 Have a wash, called fag watering, composed of soap and mercury, for killing the fags.]
1848 Express 22 July 4/2 The prisoner, who was a servant of the prosecutrix, gave in some milk a mixture used for sheep, called ‘fag-water’, which consisted of arsenic, soft soap, and water.
1856 Spirit of Times 27 Dec. 549/1 Dipping in, or dressing with fag-water preparations, is conducive to the growth of the fleece.
1874 Lancaster Farmer Sept. 211/1 The lambs are sprinkled over with arsenical water (‘fag water’), but I do not think it is so effectual, as dipping.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† fagn.2
Obsolete.
1. fag feathers n. rare the secondary flight feathers of a hawk's wing; = flag n.3 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > hanging or suspension > [noun] > that which hangs or is suspended > loosely
fag feathers1486
flapa1529
lappet1677
flapper1854
flop1900
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. bj The federis at the wynges next the body be calde the flagg or the fagg federis.
2.
a. The end of a roll or bale of cloth, often woven more coarsely or of lower quality material than the rest, and sometimes hanging loose; a piece of this. Occasionally as a mass noun: cloth of this type. Also more generally: a scrap of cloth, a rag. Cf. fag end n. 2a.In quot. 1659 in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > that which is left or remainder > [noun] > remaining fragment
stobc1420
end1481
stump1516
fragment1531
stuba1533
remainder?1570
remain1572
fag1582
snub1590
remnant1597
butt1612
heeltap1776
hagsnar1796
tag-end1807
shank1828
nuba1834
nubbin1857
snar1892
1582 Will of John Chappell P.R.O.: PROB 11/64/12 f. 12v To Mr Roger Massye..a white fagge to make him a cote.
1659 T. Fuller Appeal Iniured Innocence ii. 86 When I first took up this resolution to present the Animadvertors whole Cloth, List, Fagg and all, I aimed not at his damage, but my own defence.
1779 ‘Peeping Tim’ Honest London Spy 137 I don' like it at all; this is bale fag trimmed with silk lace.
1824 E. Copley Old Man's Head 87 I had hitherto been accustomed to confine the idea..of fag to certain ragged ends of linen, or silk, which my mother had sometimes given to my sister Jane for patchwork.
1880 Rep. Consuls U.S. on Commerce (U.S. Dept. of State) No. 1. 97 Silk fags, oil silk, fringes, tassels, and gimp for furniture.
b. Originally and chiefly Nautical. The end of a piece of rope, esp. when untwisted or unravelled; = fag end n. 2b.
ΚΠ
1750 T. R. Blanckley Naval Expositor 54 Fagg, the End of those Strands which do not go through the Tops, when a Cable or Rope is closed, are called Faggs.
1825 J. Budge Pract. Miner's Guide. 95 From the end, or fag of the rope, cut several of the yarns in fathom lengths.
1844 Gen. Instr. Officers in Her Majesty's Dock-yards xvii. 153 You are to cause the Faggs, cut from the ends of new Cables and other new Cordage, to be knotted together.
3. figurative. The last part or remnant of anything; the very end; (hence) the most worthless part, the dregs. Cf. fag end n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > [noun] > the very end
last end?c1225
the farc1540
the far endc1540
faga1627
the last word1842
the end of the road1954
endsville1962
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > [noun] > the latter part > mere
butt end1597
fag endc1600
faga1627
tag-end1807
rag enda1869
a1627 T. Middleton & W. Rowley Changeling (1653) iii. sig. E3 To finish (as it were) and make the fagg Of all the Revels.
a1664 M. Frank LI Serm. (1672) 112 The lag and fag of all, a very scum of men.
1687 T. Beverley Expos. Song of Songs ii. 20 If us no other Answer can attone, Doth not our Lord in Prophecy cut short The Note curtaill'd Fag of Time?
4. English regional (midlands). Long coarse grass; (also, chiefly in old fag) tufts or areas of old pasture grass remaining uneaten. Cf. fog n.1 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > herb or herbaceous plant > [noun] > herbage or grass > tall or coarse
thatch1622
fag1854
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words I. 217 Fag, long coarse grass. The more common form of this word is fog.
1880 Morning Post 10 Feb. 7/6 There is here and there a bit of fag grass, but pastures are very bare.
1884 R. Lawson Upton-on-Severn Words & Phrases Fag, generally Old Fag, tufts of last year's grass not eaten down.
1898 F. W. M. Woodward in Eng. Dial. Dict. (at cited word) Nothing but old fag.
5. Perhaps: a strip of a crop remaining unharvested. N.E.D. (1894) defined this sense as ‘An odd strip of land’.
ΚΠ
1880 Times 17 Sept. 8/5 The fags along the sides of the river are being irretrievably damaged.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
fagn.3
/faɡ/, U.S. /fæɡ/ 1. † c. Cricket (chiefly School slang and University slang). A fielder, typically one fielding on or near the boundary. Obsolete.Often with modifying word (esp. long) indicating the position of the fielder on the pitch.
a. A person (esp. a junior member of a group or set) who performs menial tasks, runs errands, etc., for another or others when required. Also more generally: a person likened to a schoolboy fag (see sense 1b) in some way.In quot. 1924 of an animal.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to conditions > [noun] > drudge or slave-labourer
slave-labourer1607
fag1770
slave1774
sweatee1889
task-labourer1897
1770 C. Burney Jrnl. 15 Dec. in H. E. Poole Music, Men, & Manners France & Italy (1969) 226 He seems the youngest of these literary gentlemen, and the fag.
1813 P. Hawker Diary 7 Jan. (1893) I. 66 Mr. Macintosh..a good fag.
a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) II. 115 William Tag, Thalia's most industrious fag.
1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes I. xviii. 171 The diminutive fag of the studio.
1924 Quiver Nov. 52/1 The dead stag had served, as it were, as fag to the finer beast.
1959 Times 23 Sept. 3/7 The champion of last year..was beaten in the quarter final round by Anderson, one of the fags, shall we say, of the group.
2012 Belfast Tel. (Nexis) 1 May 29 We didn't really know what to make of David Cameron and his fag George Osborne.
b. School slang. Esp. in certain British independent boarding schools for boys: a junior pupil who is expected to carry out tasks or chores for a senior pupil or pupils. Now chiefly historical.Although first attested slightly later than sense 1a, it is possible that this is the earliest sense of the word.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > types of servant > [noun] > pupil at public school
fag1790
society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [noun] > schoolboy > fag
fag1790
1790 R. Cumberland Observer V. cxxix. 32 I had the character at school of being the very best fag that ever came into it.
1809 M. Pilkington Ill-fated Mariner i. 8 As submission was forced, and the orders he received executed with ill-humour, he was made completely sensible of the degrading situation of a fag.
1869 H. E. H. Jerningham tr. T. Guiccioli My Recoll. Ld. Byron I. v. 129 A certain Mr. Peel ordered his fag, Lord Gort, to make him some toast for tea.
1930 Manch. Guardian 10 May 18/6 Upon the shout of a prefect all the fags within call were expected to run.
2017 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 27 Jan. 27 Tam was educated at Eton—where he was fag to Nicholas Ridley.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricketer > [noun] > fielder
seeker-out1744
fieldsman1772
fieldman1773
field1816
fielder1824
scout1824
fag1825
watch1836
leather-hunter1944
1825 New Monthly Mag. 13 498 The success of the stroke which sent it from the full pitch to the utmost limits of the long fag's range.
1897 W. J. Ford in K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket ix. 343 The ‘fags’ in the out-field have their hands full indeed.
1902 H. N. Birt Downside viii. 302 ‘The middle up or chestnut fag’ and ‘middle down or library window fag’ would require explaining at Lord's.
2. colloquial. A tiring or unwelcome task; hard work, toil, drudgery. Also: exhaustion, fatigue (cf. brain fag n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > labour or toil > wearisome or unrewarding
drudgery1548
slavery1551
droiling1607
sluttery1615
under-drudgery1625
drudging1634
droila1644
fag1780
scrubbery1783
stodge1846
buggerlugging1878
1780 C. A. Burney Jrnl. 13 Apr. in F. Burney Early Jrnls. & Lett. (2003) IV. 55 This was my fag till after Tea.
1798 Ld. Nelson Lett. (1814) II. 233 As no fleet has more fag than this, nothing but the..greatest attention can keep them healthy.
1847 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 8 Not worth the fag of going and coming.
1860 W. H. Dixon Personal Hist. Ld. Bacon x. §19 The fag and contest of the world.
1904 B. S. Blumberg et al. in Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 20 Feb. 501/1 The brain cells are in a state of fatigue, of fag.
1932 P. G. Wodehouse Let. 8 Apr. in Yours, Plum (1990) 140 It's a Jeeves novel and ought to be easy to write, but so far has proved a ghastly fag.
1969 Guardian 17 Sept. 9/2 The stool..saves all the fag of fetching and carrying steps.
2007 West Briton (Nexis) 4 Jan. 23 Sending Christmas cards isn't that much of a fag.
Compounds
General attributive and appositive (chiefly in sense 1), as fag system, fag duty, etc.
ΚΠ
1819 Morning Chron. 10 Nov. The fag-system in the public schools of England.
1828 T. Aird in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 713/1 A fag partner at whist when a better fourth hand is wanting.
1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 27 May 6/1 Far more exhausting than a fag day of five hours at Rugby.
1906 School Jrnl. 22 Sept. 220/1 New boys at Charterhouse are allowed a fortnight's grace before they are put to fag-duty.
1922 Sunset Mag. Dec. 25/1 If you want somebody to do the fag work out of hours, call on me.
2015 D. Turner Old Boys v. 147 The survival of the fag system fostered opportunities for a good deal of cruelty and humiliation in boarding schools.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fagn.4
/faɡ/, U.S. /fæɡ/ slang (originally and chiefly British).† 2. The butt of a smoked cigarette or cigar. Cf. fag end n. 1b. Obsolete.
1. A cigarette; (in early use) spec. †a cheap one (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > thing which may be smoked > cigarette
cigarito1832
paper cigar1833
cigarette1842
papelito1845
coffin-nailc1865
fag1885
butt1893
pill1901
scag1915
nail1925
quirly1932
tab1934
burn1941
draw1946
tube1946
snout1950
cancer stick1958
straight1959
ciggy1962
square1970
bifter1989
lung dart1990
dart2000
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > thing which may be smoked > cigarette > cheap
fag1885
woodbine1907
gasper1914
1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 15 Oct. 1/2 Thousands of lads come out..to talk filth, to call one another foul names, to smoke ‘fags’ and clay pipes.
1898 Eng. Dial. Dict. (at cited word) Here [i.e. at Redruth] we are often asked by youngsters to ‘chuck’ them ‘a fag’—and whole cheap cigarettes are also often called fags.
1912 A. Ollivant Royal Road i. v. 48 His finger-tips were brown with rolling fags: for he never smoked a pipe.
1942 C. Barrett On Wallaby v. 97 Cobbers [i.e. friends] of the men in detention had hit upon an ingenious method of smuggling fags to them.
2010 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 23 Jan. 19 Mam..took off her apron, lit a fag and had a cup of tea.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > thing which may be smoked > cigar or cigarette > butt or end of
doup1710
butt end1827
old soldier1834
butt1847
stub1855
cigar-end1870
stub-end1875
cigarette-end1889
cigar-butt1891
snipe1891
fag end1892
fag1897
bumper1899
scag1915
cigarette-butt1923
dout1928
dog-end1934
roach1939
stompie1947
1897 Dundee Courier & Argus 11 Nov. 5/7 (headline) Death from excessive smoking. Boys and cigar ‘fags’.
1908 Church Times 7 Feb. 173/1 He gathered into a leather pouch the remains of his cigarettes, and left the room. ‘What does he do with all those fags?’ asked Conway.
1921 J. Galsworthy To Let iii. viii. 284 The fag of Fleur's cigarette..fell on the grass.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
ΚΠ
1891 Essex Standard 21 Feb. 7/3 He gave defendant a ‘fag paper’.
1918 J. Martin Diary 30 Mar. in Sapper Martin (2010) 196 The ‘fag issue’ today has produced some tobacco for which I am grateful.
1922 C. Somerville Shriek iii. 37 Mauve fag smoke wreathing her pruned, red locks.
1978 Observer 3 Sept. 4/5 The floor..littered with food and fag packets.
2007 M. Hardy Worthless (2008) 144 I spent the whole morning sitting with Dad, apart from frequent loo breaks and odd fag breaks.
C2.
fag ash n. cigarette ash.Recorded earliest in Fag Ash Lil as the name of a grey racehorse; cf. fag ash Lil n.
ΚΠ
1960 Times 24 Mar. 18/1 Also ran:–Fireflacht (4th), Night o'Love, Lyre, Velocette, Europa, Fag Ash Lil.
1971 Jrnl. Gypsy Lore Soc. 50 131 T: ‘An' they brung the food up, an' now what was in the food?’ W: ‘Fag ash?’.
1991 New Direct. 55 92 Is it the smell of fag-ash in my hair next day?
2017 Times (Nexis) 8 Apr. You look in their kitchen bins and you see bottles, newspapers, pizza boxes, turnip peelings and chicken bones all mixed in there with the fag ash.
fag butt n. the end of a smoked cigarette; cf. butt n.6 3b(a).
ΚΠ
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. v. [Lotus Eaters] 68 Smoking a chewed fagbutt.
1963 McKean County Democrat (Smethport, Pa.) 24 Oct. 1/2 (headline) Blame carelessly tossed fag butt for woods fire.
2012 W. Cohu Wolf Pit (2013) 75 He had an old estate car..full of empty Coke bottles and fag butts.
fag card n. now historical a small collectable card with a picture on it, formerly included in packets of cigarettes; = cigarette card n. at cigarette n. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1912 Middlesex Gaz. 29 June 8/1 Got any fag cards, guvnor?
1959 W. Golding Free Fall ii. 49 There was the business of the fagcards. We all collected them.
2000 Z. Smith White Teeth (2001) v. 96 Archie handed over a fag-card of Dorothy Lamour that had been..in his back pocket ever since he joined up.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fagn.5adj.
/faɡ/, U.S. /fæɡ/ North American slang (derogatory and offensive).
A. n.5
A homosexual man, sometimes spec. one considered to be effeminate. Also more generally: any man who is considered effeminate; (as a term of abuse or contempt) a weak or cowardly man or boy; a sissy. Cf. faggot n. 8c.Dated to 1905 in E. Partridge Slang To-day & Yesterday (1937) (in ed. 1 (1933) dated to 1915), but without supporting evidence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male
badlingeOE
nan1670
molly1708
Miss Molly1754
Miss Nancy1824
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
Mary Ann1868
pretty-boy1881
cocksucker1885
poofter1889
queer1894
fruit1895
fairy1896
homosexualist1898
puff1902
pussy1904
nance1910
quean1910
girl1912
faggot1913
mouser1914
queen1919
fag1921
gay boy1921
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
punk1933
queerie1933
gobbler1934
jocker1935
queenie1935
iron1936
freak1941
swish1941
flit1942
tonk1943
wonk1945
mother1947
fruitcake1952
Mary1953
twink1953
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
arse bandit1961
leather man1961
booty bandit1962
ginger beer1964
bummer1965
poofteroo1966
shirtlifter1966
battyman1967
dick-sucker1968
mo1968
a friend of Dorothy1972
shim1973
gaylord1976
twinkie1977
woofter1977
bender1986
knob jockey1989
batty boy1992
cake boy1992
1921 Med. Rev. of Reviews 27 369/1 Does the ‘fairy’ or ‘fag’ really exist?
1932 E. Hemingway Death in Afternoon 298 Interested parties..are continually proving that Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, etc., were fags.
1979 W. Cross Kids & Booze x. 88 Abstainers [from alcohol] are often referred to with scorn by upper classmen as ‘squares’, sometimes as ‘fags’.
1980 Mother Jones Dec. 54/3 You sap, you punk, you fag... You couldn't whip my grandmother.
2011 H. Dolan Very Bad Men (2012) xlv. 304 He was never one of the guys. For a long time, I thought he was a fag.
B. adj.
Of, characteristic of, or associated with homosexual people, esp. men. Of a person, esp. a man: homosexual. Also more generally of any man, esp. as a term of abuse or contempt: effeminate.Some early examples may instead show use of the noun as a modifier.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [adjective] > homosexual
inverted1870
Uranian1883
homosexual1892
homogenic1894
camp1910
homosex1913
queer1914
homoerotic1915
homosexualist1920
homo1923
faggoty1928
tapette1930
fag1932
gay1934
so1937
same-sex1938
faggy1949
ginger beer1959
that waya1960
that way inclineda1960
ginger1965
minty1965
pink1972
leather1990
1932 Broadway Brevities 14 Mar. 1 Fag balls exposed... 6,000 crowd huge hall as queer men and women dance at 64th annual masquerade.
1939 R. Chandler Big Sleep xii. 90 A stealthy nastiness, like a fag party.
1952 J. Lait & L. Mortimer U.S.A. Confidential xi. 109 Bridgeport has a large fag population, which is understandable because of the many artistic colonies in the Fairfield County villages.
1969 H. Gold Great Amer. Jackpot iii. 35 The ones who buy fag clothes, buddy, are straight.
1990 E. Gallardo Waltz on Merry-go-round in Simpson Street & Other Plays ii. i. 104 My sons and I were right to teach them fag boys a lesson, weren't we, Jason?
2005 Time Out N.Y. 27 Oct. 90/3 A debaucherous evening of rock, trash disco, fag-punk and the like.
2012 J. Burdett Vulture Peak iii. 17 When he is among his own kind [sc. transexuals], Lek turns pretty much totally fag.
Compounds
fag-bash v. transitive to attack (a homosexual person, esp. a man) physically or verbally.Also occasionally intransitive.
ΚΠ
1977 Metro Gay News (Michigan) June 19/3 An already ignorant society which in many cases is just waiting for an invitation to ‘queer-bait’, ‘fag-bash’ and ‘fruit-loop’.
1985 Film Comment May 73/3 The situation grows less peachy when gays are among those who fag bash, fire, evict, and laugh at the boys in the band.
2017 Austral. Financial Rev. (Nexis) 28 Jan. (Weekend Fin section) 37 In my teenage years I got fag-bashed at high school for being openly gay.
fag-basher n. a person who attacks homosexual people, esp. men, physically or verbally.
ΚΠ
1978 Gay Activist (N.Y.) Oct.–Nov. 4/2 The undertones of timidity..are comparable to the thought of gay church members throwing flowers at..an advancing column of ‘fag bashers’ out for their blood.
1983 Washington Post 3 Aug. a7/5 He said..he had never given speeches or been outspoken on the issue of homosexuality: ‘I have never been a “fag-basher” or “gay-baiter”.’
2007 J. Baumgardner Look Both Ways (2008) 50 Het isn't used, nor is homo by any one other than Archie Bunker and modern-day fag bashers.
fag-bashing n. the action or practice of attacking homosexual people, esp. men, physically or verbally.
ΚΠ
1977 National Lampoon May 6/1 Those that indulged in ‘queer-baiting’, ‘fag-bashing’, or ‘fruit-looping’ were to be deplored.
1999 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 10 June 22 Usually the fag-bashing was merely verbal; ditto, the anti-feminist attacks.
2007 W. C. Harris in Reading Brokeback Mountain ix. 123 Fag bashing is terrorist violence, visited at random on one individual.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fagv.1
/faɡ/, U.S. /fæɡ/, Scottish English /faɡ/ 1. intransitive. To decline in vigour or strength (literal and figurative); to tire or flag after exertion; (formerly also) †to droop (obsolete). Now rare (chiefly Scottish and English regional (northern) in later use).In quot. 1952 perhaps a typographical error for flag.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > hanging or suspension > hang or be suspended [verb (intransitive)] > hang down
falleOE
depend?1518
fag1555
pend1834
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from action [verb (intransitive)] > avoid > turn aside from a course of action
wanderc897
haltc900
flitc1175
misdrawc1300
err1303
convertc1374
foldc1380
stray1390
astray1393
swaver?a1400
to fall from ——a1425
recedec1450
depart1535
swervea1547
fag1555
flinch1578
exorbitate1600
extravagate1600
discoasta1677
tralineate1700
aberrate1749
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > weariness or exhaustion > become weary or exhausted [verb (intransitive)]
wearyc890
atirec1000
tirec1000
sowp1513
inweary1611
outwear1614
jade1627
fag1722
to knock up1771
to be sinking1782
1555 J. Wilkinson tr. L. de Avila y Cuñiga Comm. Wars in Germany sig. D.vii His maiestie..seing now yt they began to fagge: he commaunded the horsmen to retier into their campe.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 1271/2 His handes fagged downewarde.
1684 Disc. Manifestation Will of God xix. 179 Never the least qualm should be seen to come over any of their hearts, nor his courage to fagg.
1722 G. Mackenzie Lives Writers Sc. Nation III. 202 The Italian attached him with such..Eagerness, that he began to fag, having overacted himself.
1794 Har'st Rig xxxiii. 14 They never fag.
1854 Arthur's Home Mag. Apr. 295/1 He was a man of energy, and his zeal never fagged nor grew weary.
1878 W. Dickinson Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (ed. 2) Fag,..to hang back.
1890 Jrnl. Sc. Meteorol. Soc. 9 71/2 Crops made great progress, but have ‘fagged’ considerably for the want of rain.
1908 J. Lumsden Doun i' th' Loudons 167 A dizziness upo' me steals, Imagination fags, an' reels.
1952 S. Foote Shiloh 181 We were beginning to fag from the ten-mile hike.
2.
a. intransitive. To work hard (at something, esp. something tedious); to labour, toil; to exert oneself; to take the trouble to do something, esp. (with prepositional complement) to go somewhere which requires an effort that one is unwilling to make. Also with away, on.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > toil
sweatc897
swingc1000
swinkOE
travailc1275
carka1350
tavec1350
to-swinkc1386
labourc1390
byswenke?a1400
tevelc1400
toilc1400
pingle1511
carp1522
moilc1529
turmoil1548
mucker1566
tug1619
tuggle1650
fatigue1695
hammer1755
fag1772
bullock1888
slog1888
to sweat one's guts out1890
schlep1937
slug1943
1772 F. Burney Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1988) I. 205 All Day I (a)m fagging at business.
1794 Ld. Spencer Let. 23 Dec. in Ld. Auckland Jrnl. & Corr. (1862) III. 299 Arthur Paget, on whose account I am now fagging to Berlin.
1829 W. Scott Jrnl. 14 Mar. (1946) 36 I..fagged at my Review.
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities ii. viii. 75 The Marquis in his travelling carriage..fagged up a steep hill.
1862 Sat. Rev. 8 Feb. 144 Like giving up a problem instead of fagging on till it is solved.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. iv. [Calypso] 65 Too much trouble to fag up the stairs to the landing.
2016 A. Masters Life Discarded 150 Fagged away at laundry—it would have been better to have put it in the washing-machine.
b. intransitive. English regional (Worcestershire). spec. To pull hard, strain. rare.
ΚΠ
1884 R. Lawson Upton-on-Severn Words & Phrases 14 Fag..to pull hard as at a rope.
3.
a. transitive. To cause (a person, animal, or part of the body) to become tired; to fatigue, wear out. Also reflexive: to tire oneself (out).In quot. 1774 probably: to hinder, obstruct.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > weariness or exhaustion > weary or exhaust [verb (transitive)]
wearyc897
tirea1000
travailc1300
forwearya1325
taryc1375
tarc1440
matec1450
break1483
labour1496
overwearya1500
wear?1507
to wear out, forth1525
fatigate1535
stress1540
overtire1558
forwaste1563
to tire out1563
overwear1578
spend1582
out-tire1596
outwear1596
outweary1596
overspend1596
to toil out1596
attediate1603
bejade1620
lassate1623
harassa1626
overtask1628
tax1672
hag1674
trash1685
hatter1687
overtax1692
fatigue1693
to knock up1740
tire to death1740
overfatigue1741
fag1774
outdo1776
to do over1789
to use up1790
jade1798
overdo1817
frazzlea1825
worry1828
to sew up1837
to wear to death1840
to take it (also a lot, too much, etc.) out of (a person)1847
gruel1850
to stump up1853
exhaust1860
finish1864
peter1869
knacker1886
grind1887
tew1893
crease1925
poop1931
raddle1951
1774 D. Graham Impartial Hist. Rebellion (ed. 3) ix. 86 Th' English women not us'd with wading..Went in with petticoats and all, Which fagg'd their feet and made them fall.
1793 Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 782/2 It was the length of time they had been under arms which had fagged the men so much.
1826 W. Scott Jrnl. 9 Apr. (1939) 152 I worked at..correcting manuscript, which fags me excessively.
1898 Reservation Certain Lands Calif. (55th Congr. U.S. Senate, 2nd Session) 6 They drove those cattle down this Mineral Kind road until they fagged them out.
1913 E. Wharton Custom of Country ii. xiii. 186 I'd been to all this bother—fagging myself to death about all these things.
1990 Independent (Nexis) 28 Mar. 30 The first time I saw Michael he was flying around the ring, fagging himself out.
2017 D. E. Tomlinson Midnight Man 201 Even those paltry goals have fagged him out more than normal.
b. transitive. In passive. To be willing to make the required effort; to be bothered. Usually in negative constructions, as can't be fagged. Frequently with infinitive or present participle as complement. Cf. bother v. 3b.
ΚΠ
1927 Sackbut Jan. 165 Finding the pail empty, he felt he couldn't be fagged to go to the brook again.
1996 Big Issue 2 May 20/3 He goes to bed at 7.30, so we try to get out at 7.45, charge like mad to get somewhere... I can never be fagged really.
2008 Times 26 Jan. 84/2 No one can be fagged with planting at this time.
4. School slang (originally and chiefly in certain British independent boarding schools for boys). Now historical and rare.
a. transitive. Of a senior pupil: to make (a junior pupil) one's fag (fag n.3 1b). Also: to compel (a junior pupil) to carry out a task or chore.Also with complement indicating the nature of the task or chore.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > educational administration > school administration > [verb (transitive)] > compel to fag
fag1786
1786 Advice Clergy of Every Denomination & Degree ii. 31 The power of fagging, kicking, and cuffing, the underlings.
1824 R. Southey in C. C. Southey Life & Corr. R. Southey (1849) I. 138 He was not high enough in the school to fag me.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. viii. 186 What right have the fifth-form boys to fag us.
1889 A. R. Hope in Boy's Own Paper 699/2 He used to fag me to blow the chapel organ for him.
1922 S. Leslie Oppidan i. 12 Upper Fifth condescend to fag and belabour Lower Boys.
1955 C. S. Lewis Surprised by Joy vi. 96 This could be done only if one escaped being fagged as a shoeblack.
1987 R. Fiennes Living Dangerously iii. 16 He who arrived last was fagged.
b. intransitive. To act as a fag (for a senior pupil). Also in extended use: to carry out menial tasks or run errands (for a person).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > types of servant > [verb (intransitive)] > serve another pupil at school
fag1806
1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. iii. 52 Fagging for a niggardly glutton.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. viii. 187 I won't fag except for the sixth.
1908 Pall Mall Mag. Oct. 462/1 I can only remember one case of a new boy refusing to fag.
1919 L. Perry Romantic Liar xv. 220 His secretary was taken ill the first week, and I have been quite useful to him, fagging for him like a pup.
2010 Mirror (Nexis) 20 Apr. 21 Theroux ‘fagged’ for Lib Dem's great hope at Westminster School.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > fielding > field [verb (intransitive)]
stop1744
scout1786
to watch out1786
field1798
to look out1836
to fag out1839
to seek out1840
1839 Bentley's Misc. July 648 I merely wish to return thanks for the kind manner in which the grown-up people have made me a member of their cricket clubs, and the little boys stayed away from school on purpose to ‘fag out’ for me.
1860 W. M. Thackeray On Joke in Roundabout Papers 89 The ground where you had to fag out on holidays.
1908 Country Life 8 Aug. p. xliv/1 The innattentive [sic] fieldsman who was thinking of home or birds'-nesting when he was fagging out at cricket.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† fagv.2
slang (originally cant). Obsolete.
transitive. To beat, thrash.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person
to-beatc893
threshOE
bustc1225
to lay on or upon?c1225
berrya1250
to-bunea1250
touchc1330
arrayc1380
byfrapc1380
boxc1390
swinga1400
forbeatc1420
peal?a1425
routa1425
noddlea1450
forslinger1481
wipe1523
trima1529
baste1533
waulk1533
slip1535
peppera1550
bethwack1555
kembc1566
to beat (a person) black and blue1568
beswinge1568
paik1568
trounce1568
canvass1573
swaddle?1577
bebaste1582
besoop1589
bumfeage1589
dry-beat1589
feague1589
lamback1589
clapperclaw1590
thrash1593
belam1595
lam1595
beswaddle1598
bumfeagle1598
belabour1600
tew1600
flesh-baste1611
dust1612
feeze1612
mill1612
verberate1614
bethumpa1616
rebuke1619
bemaul1620
tabor1624
maula1627
batterfang1630
dry-baste1630
lambaste1637
thunder-thump1637
cullis1639
dry-banga1640
nuddle1640
sauce1651
feak1652
cotton1654
fustigate1656
brush1665
squab1668
raddle1677
to tan (a person's) hide1679
slam1691
bebump1694
to give (a person) his load1694
fag1699
towel1705
to kick a person's butt1741
fum1790
devel1807
bray1808
to beat (also scare, etc.) someone's daylights out1813
mug1818
to knock (a person) into the middle of next week1821
welt1823
hidea1825
slate1825
targe1825
wallop1825
pounce1827
to lay into1838
flake1841
muzzle1843
paste1846
looder1850
frail1851
snake1859
fettle1863
to do over1866
jacket1875
to knock seven kinds of —— out of (a person)1877
to take apart1880
splatter1881
to beat (knock, etc.) the tar out of1884
to —— the shit out of (a person or thing)1886
to do up1887
to —— (the) hell out of1887
to beat — bells out of a person1890
soak1892
to punch out1893
stoush1893
to work over1903
to beat up1907
to punch up1907
cream1929
shellac1930
to —— the bejesus out of (a person or thing)1931
duff1943
clobber1944
to fill in1948
to bash up1954
to —— seven shades of —— out of (a person or thing)1976
to —— seven shades out of (a person or thing)1983
beast1990
becurry-
fan-
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Fag, to Beat.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Fag the Fen, drub the Whore.
1723 M. Browne Polidus ii. i. 21 I long to be fagging her slender Sides.
1772 T. Bridges Burlesque Transl. Homer (rev. ed.) iii. 109 Talthibious to the boats did run, To fetch for Jove a hot cross-bun; Knowing their bones he'd soon be fagging, Should they not keep his chaps a wagging.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
fagv.3
/faɡ/, U.S. /fæɡ/ Originally and chiefly Nautical.† 1. transitive. Chiefly with out. To cause (the end of a rope) to untwist or unravel. Also more generally: to fray or wear out (a piece of material). Chiefly in passive (with unexpressed agent). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1799 Village Messenger (Amherst, New Hampsh.) 21 Sept. 3/3 The Boatswain's Mate..began to beat him..until the rope was fagged out about eight or nine inches in length.
1833 Morning Post 28 Mar. 6/5 There was a stick about perhaps a yard long, and with one or two little tails of line, partly fagged out at the ends.
1849 Daily News 31 Mar. 7/5 A rope about an inch thick was produced by the inspector, with which the child said his father had beaten him until he ‘fagged’ the ends of it.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 285 Fag out..to wear out the end of a rope or end of canvas.
1888 Daily Picayune (New Orleans) 13 May 16/4 I had made the best job I could out of a rope which was quite fagged out.
2. intransitive. With out. Of a rope: to untwist or unravel at the end. Cf. fag n.2 2b. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1804 C. Romme Dictionnaire Marine Anglaise Fag out, on exprime ainsi l'état de l'extrémité d'un cordage dont les torons sont décommis.
1807 J. H. Moore New Pract. Navigator (ed. 17) 291 Whipping, to bind twine round the ends of ropes, to hinder them from fagging out.
1860 A. H. Alston Seamanship 145 They will lie flat along the line, and run no risk of fagging out, or being torn off.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 593/1 The end of every working rope should at least be whipped to prevent it fagging out.
1942 Mich. Roads & Constr. 13 Aug. 3 (advt.) Ordinary rope fags out.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fagv.4
/faɡ/, U.S. /fæɡ/ Chiefly English regional (southern and midlands). Now rare.
transitive. To cut (a cereal crop or stubble) down to the ground, esp. by chopping with a fagging hook (fagging hook n. (a) at fagging n.3 Compounds); to reap (a cereal crop) using a sickle or fagging hook. Cf. bag v.2
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > harvest (a crop) [verb (transitive)] > reap or mow a crop > with a sickle
sheara1325
fag1807
sickle1922
1807 [implied in: J. Middleton View Agric. Middlesex (ed. 2) vii. 216 The operation of reaping is performed by cutting the crop down by a succession of blows, made within two or three inches of the ground. This the farmers call bagging (fagging). (at fagging n.3)].
1841 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 2 i. 120 Six ridges..were harvested separately, being fagged or cut at the ground.
1854 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 15 i. 213 Some farmers fag a large quantity of barley.
1880 Newcastle Courant 20 Aug. 3/1 Wheat is reaped, or fagged, tied, and shoked at 12s. to 16s. per acre.
1959 Recorded Interview (Brit. Libr. Sound Archive) (Survey Eng. Dial.: C908) (MS transcript) Track 23 They used to..fag it by hand—the women you used to tie it.
Compounds
fag-hook n. now chiefly historical (a) a heavy, short-handled tool similar to a sickle but without a serrated edge; = fagging hook n. (a) at fagging n.3 Compounds; (b) a hooked stick with which stalks of a cereal crop are drawn towards the person harvesting (also used in hedge trimming, etc.); = fagging hook n. (b) at fagging n.3 Compounds.
ΚΠ
1870 Hampshire Tel. & Sussex Chron. 18 June 6/5 John Silvester..was charged with stealing a prong and a fag hook.
1896 M. J. Bacon in P. H. Ditchfield Bygone Berks. 239 A fag-hook, or fagging-hook, is a crooked stick used instead of the left hand in clearing a bank of nettles, etc., with an iron hook.
1899 New Eng. Mag. Apr. 331/2 Two old fellows with fag-hooks were reaping the grass left by the machines along the hedges.
1921 E. Leadbitter Shepherd's Warning ii. ii. 85 It has bin a rare year for the corn... My old fag-hook, he en't hardly wanted.
1980 D. Thompson Change & Trad. in Rural Eng. 27 I viewed the old tools—hoes and spades and scythes and fag-hooks—with quickened interest.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fagv.5
/faɡ/, U.S. /fæɡ/ slang (originally U.S.).
1. transitive. To supply (a person) with a cigarette. disused.
ΚΠ
1926 G. H. Maines & B. Grant Wise-crack Dict. 8/1 Fag me, give me a cigarette.
1954 W. Faulkner Fable (1955) 324 ‘Fag me again.’ The corporal gave him another cigarette.
2. intransitive. To smoke. Also transitive with it. Now chiefly British.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > smoke [verb (intransitive)]
whiff1602
smoke1617
to blow (raise obs.) a cloud1699
drawa1774
smook1805
blow1808
to have (or take) a smoke1835
tobacconize1876
shoch1898
inhale1933
fag1940
to have a burn1941
1940 Amer. Speech 15 335/2 To smoke is..to fag.
1997 J. Hawes Rancid Aluminium (1998) iii. 67 These two fat little sixteen-year-olds..came waddling out straight into the road, mouthing and fagging away.
2002 Observer 29 Dec. i. 15/1 It's usually only me fagging it before the meal.
2013 C. Tsiolkas Barracuda (2014) 177 ‘I'm working out.’ She ruefully eyes the cigarette in her fingers. ‘But I'm still fucking fagging.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11463n.21486
n.31770
n.41885n.5adj.1921v.11555
v.21699v.31799
v.41807v.51926