rake

noun

/reɪk/

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[countable] a garden tool with a long handle and a row of metal points at the end, used for gathering fallen leaves and making soil smoothTopics Gardensc2
[countable] (in the past) a man, especially a rich and fashionable one, who was thought to have low moral standards, for example because he drank or gambled a lot or had sex with a lot of women
[singular] the amount by which something, especially the stage in a theatre, slopes

Word Originnoun sense 1 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.

rake

verb

/reɪk/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they rake	/reɪk/ /reɪk/
he / she / it rakes	/reɪks/ /reɪks/
past simple raked	/reɪkt/ /reɪkt/
past participle raked	/reɪkt/ /reɪkt/
-ing form raking	/ˈreɪkɪŋ/ /ˈreɪkɪŋ/

Idioms Phrasal Verbs

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[transitive, intransitive] to pull a rake over a surface in order to make it level or to remove something
- rake (something) (+ adv./prep.) The leaves had been raked into a pile.
- (figurative) She raked a comb through her hair.
- rake something + adj. First rake the soil smooth.
Topics Gardensc2
[transitive] rake something (with something) to point a camera, light, gun, etc. at somebody/something and move it slowly from one side to the other
- They raked the streets with machine-gun fire.
- Searchlights raked the grounds.
[intransitive] + adv./prep. to search a place carefully for something
- She raked around in her bag for her keys.
[transitive, intransitive] rake (something) to scratch the surface of something with a sharp object, especially your nails

Word Originverb 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’.

Idioms

rake somebody over the coals (North American English)

(British English haul somebody over the coals)

to criticize somebody severely because they have done something wrong
- I was raked over the coals by my boss for being late.