ragbagn.
/ˈraɡbaɡ/, U.S. /ˈræɡˌbæɡ/ 1. A bag in which scraps of cloth or old clothes are kept.
ΚΠ
1789 Mrs. Trimmer Family Mag. Jan. 246 Far from grudging a bit of old cloth that was given to the poor, because it might..add to the weight of her rag-bag, she frequently requested her mistress to cut out linen for them.
1850 C. Dickens David Copperfield xlviii. 490 I was informed by the authorities of his having led to the discovery of sirloins of beef among the kitchen-stuff, and sheets in the rag-bag.
1884 Cassell's Family Mag. Feb. 155/1 Many people..would..be surprised if they could see the contents of a rag-bag.
1910 H. G. Wells New Macchiavelli ii. i. 216 Dipping into my memories is like dipping into a ragbag, one brings out this memory or that, with no intimation of how they came in time.
1964 A. Sexton Sel. Poems 57 I hid in the kitchen under the ragbag.
2006 Daily Press (Newport, Virginia) (Nexis) 29 Oct. She went to her ragbag. She pulled out the dirtiest, rattiest, most worn-out T-shirt she could find.
2.
a. figurative. A repository for a variety of (typically useless) items. Also: a miscellaneous or muddled collection of things.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [noun] > incongruous mixture
hotchpotc1405
hodge-podgec1426
omnigatherum?a1430
mishmashc1475
peasemeala1525
omnium gatherum1530
mingle1548
hotchpotch1549
mingle-mangle1549
gallimaufry1551
rhapsody1574
sauce-medley1579
pell-mellc1586
linsey-woolsey1592
wilderness1594
brewage1599
motley1609
macaronic1611
medley1618
olla podridaa1635
farragoa1637
consarcination1640
porridge1642
olio1645
bisque1653
mélange1653
hash1660
jumble1661
farrage1698
capilotade1705
jargon1710
salmagundi1761
pasticcio1785
pea meal1789
ollapod1804
mixty-maxty1818
macédoine1820
ragbag1820
haggis1822
job lot1828
allsorts1831
conglomerate1837
pot-pourri1841
chow-chow1850
breccia1873
pastiche1873
macaroni1884
mixed bag1919
casserole1930
mixed bunch1958
rattle-bag1982
mulligan1993
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > bag or box for pieces of cloth
ragbag1820
piece bag1863
piece box1872
snip-bag1880
1820 M. Wilmot Let. 7 Aug. (1935) 76 Well, what have I got to say in my ragbag of a brain? I have a hundred odds and ends.
1855 N. P. Willis Out-doors at Idlewild xlii. 275 I stumbled on a scrap of knowledge in his rag-bag of experience.
1885 ‘A. Dale’ Jonathan's Home 108 That indescribable medley of houses, a ragbag of dwellings.
1915 Sci. Monthly Oct. 60 The dominance of the classical method..too often converted the youthful mind into a rag bag of useless information.
1940 L. Hogben Dangerous Thoughts iv. 59 This ragbag was liberal rationalism and free thought as the terms were used in the opening years of the present century.
1980 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts Feb. 149/2 The design courses are in danger by their very existence of joining Art, Music and Technical Drawing in the ragbag of the system.
2006 Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent) (Nexis) 29 Dec. 8 It's a legal ragbag which has been shown to be unenforceable. How you sort out who's breaking the law and who isn't is anybody's guess.
b. colloquial. A person, esp. a woman, of untidy or slovenly appearance; a slattern.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > untidiness > [noun] > personal untidiness > woman
slut1402
malkin1586
mawks1596
feague1664
gad1756
frow1781
streel1842
ragbag1854
1854 S. Smith Way down East xii. 299 Go home, you ragbag, your mother don't know you're out!
1888 R. Kipling Under Deodars 70 If I were a man I would perish sooner than be seen with that rag-bag.
1976 P. Cave High Flying Birds iii. 31 She was neither attractive nor plain; not a raver or a ragbag.
1991 R. Rendell Kissing Gunner's Daughter (1992) xxiv. 307 Am I generally such a ragbag? The head model of the Oxfam catwalk?
Compounds
attributive. Composed of miscellaneous elements; motley, scrappy. Also: characteristic of a ragbag; ragged, untidy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [adjective] > miscellaneous or heterogeneous > incongruously mixed
medleya1400
intermellé1487
farraginary1538
hotchpotch1556
promiscuous1579
hotchpot1588
pied1594
motley1601
hodge-podge1602
promiscual1602
macaronic1611
farraginous1616
throughother1626
mishmash1652
promiscous1656
hotchpotchly1674
hodge-podging1772
hashy1781
mixty-maxty1786
motleyed1798
gallimaufrical1836
odd-and-end1836
chow-chow1844
speckled1845
ragbag1882
disherent1890
1882 Racine (Wisconsin) Advocate 4 May This court reminds me of a Virginia rag-bag team... It is a team, your Honor, composed of two mules and a jackass.
1896 Times 6 June 8/5 It was sought to patch up the matter by instituting what are pleasantly called in the service ‘rag-bag’ battalions, made up of the scraps and leavings of all the regiments serving abroad.
1900 Daily Herald (Delphos, Ohio) 12 July 3/2 In those days crownless headgear, overalls and rag-bag clothes constituted the minstrel's wardrobe.
1948 Life 13 Sept. 152/2 In the old days..some of them little ‘rag-bag’ shows used to carry a lot of grift.
1968 Listener 31 Oct. 583/2 There is certain to be some inherent weakness in the direction of generalisation and ‘rag-bag’ proliferation of studies that I deplore.
1992 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 22 Jan. 28/6 The detective with the ragbag appearance has done the trick in his latest assignments.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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