Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Rake

Rake

(rāk)
,
Noun.
[AS.
race
; akin to OD.
rake
, D.
reek
, OHG.
rehho
, G.
rechen
, Icel.
reka
a shovel, and to Goth.
rikan
to heap up, collect, and perhaps to Gr.
ὀρέγειν
to stretch out, and E.
rack
to stretch. Cf.
Reckon
.]
1.
An implement consisting of a headpiece having teeth, and a long handle at right angles to it, – used for collecting hay, or other light things which are spread over a large surface, or for breaking and smoothing the earth.
2.
A toothed machine drawn by a horse, – used for collecting hay or grain; a horserake.
3.
[Perhaps a different word.]
(Mining)
A fissure or mineral vein traversing the strata vertically, or nearly so; – called also
rake-vein
.
Gill rakes
.
(Anat.)
See under 1st
Gill
.

Rake

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Raked
(rākt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Raking
.]
[AS.
racian
. See 1st
Rake
.]
1.
To collect with a rake;
as, to
rake
hay
; – often with
up
;
as, he
raked
up the fallen leaves
.
2.
Hence:
To collect or draw together with laborious industry; to gather from a wide space; to scrape together;
as, to
rake
together wealth; to
rake
together slanderous tales; to
rake
together the rabble of a town.
3.
To pass a rake over; to scrape or scratch with a rake for the purpose of collecting and clearing off something, or for stirring up the soil;
as, to
rake
a lawn; to
rake
a flower bed.
4.
To search through; to scour; to ransack.
The statesman
rakes
the town to find a plot.
Swift.
5.
To scrape or scratch across; to pass over quickly and lightly, as a rake does.
Like clouds that
rake
the mountain summits.
Wordsworth.
6.
(Mil.)
To enfilade; to fire in a direction with the length of; in naval engagements, to cannonade, as a ship, on the stern or head so that the balls range the whole length of the deck.
To rake up
.
(a)
To collect together, as the fire (live coals), and cover with ashes
.
(b)
To bring up; to search out and bring to notice again;
as,
to rake up
old scandals
.

Rake

(rāk)
,
Verb.
I.
1.
To use a rake, as for searching or for collecting; to scrape; to search minutely.
One is for
raking
in Chaucer for antiquated words.
Dryden.
2.
To pass with violence or rapidity; to scrape along.
Pas could not stay, but over him did
rake
.
Sir P. Sidney.

Rake

,
Noun.
[Cf. dial. Sw.
raka
to reach, and E.
reach
.]
The inclination of anything from a perpendicular direction;
as, the
rake
of a roof, a staircase, etc.
; especially
(Naut.)
,
the inclination of a mast or funnel, or, in general, of any part of a vessel not perpendicular to the keel.

Rake

,
Verb.
I.
To incline from a perpendicular direction;
as, a mast
rakes
aft
.
Raking course
(Bricklaying)
,
a course of bricks laid diagonally between the face courses in a thick wall, to strengthen it.

Rake

,
Noun.
[OE.
rakel
rash; cf. Icel.
reikall
wandering, unsettled,
reika
to wander.]
A loose, disorderly, vicious man; a person addicted to lewdness and other scandalous vices; a debauchee; a roué.
An illiterate and frivolous old
rake
.
Macaulay.

Rake

,
Verb.
I.
1.
[Icel.
reika
. Cf.
Rake
a debauchee.]
To walk about; to gad or ramble idly.
[Prov. Eng.]
2.
[See
Rake
a debauchee.]
To act the rake; to lead a dissolute, debauched life.
Shenstone.
To rake out
(Falconry)
,
to fly too far and wide from its master while hovering above waiting till the game is sprung; – said of the hawk.
Encyc. Brit.

Webster 1828 Edition


Rake

RAKE

,
Noun.
An instrument consisting of a head-piece in which teeth are inserted, and a long handle; used for collecting hay or other light things which are spread over a large surface, or in gardens for breaking and smoothing the earth.

RAKE

,
Noun.
A loose, disorderly, vicious man; a man addicted to lewdness and other scandalous vices.

RAKE

,
Noun.
1.
The projection of the upper parts of a ship, at the height of the stem and stern, beyond the extremities of the keel. The distance between a perpendicular line from the extremity of stem or stern to the end of the keel, is the length of the rake; one the fore-rake, the other the rake-aft.
2.
The inclination of a mast from a perpendicular direction.

RAKE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. frico.]
1.
Properly, to scrape; to rub or scratch with something rough; as, to rake the ground.
2.
To gather with a rake; as, to rake hay or barley.
3.
To clear with a rake; to smooth with a rake; as, to rake a bed in a garden; to rake land.
4.
To collect or draw together something scattered; to gather by violence; as, to rake together wealth; to rake together slanderous tales; to rake together the rabble of a town.
5.
To scour; to search with eagerness all corners of a place.
The statesman rakes the town to find a plot.
6.
In the military art, to enfilade; to fire in a direction with the length of any thing; particularly in naval engagement, to rake is to cannonade a ship on the stern or head, so that the
balls range the whole length of the deck. Hence the phrase, to rake a ship fore and aft.
To rake up, applied to fire, is to cover the fire with ashes.

RAKE

, v.i.
1.
To scrape; to scratch into for finding something; to search minutely and meanly; as, to rake into a dunghill.
2.
To search with minute inspection into every part.
One is for raking in Chaucer for antiquated words.
3.
To pass with violence or rapidity.
Pas could not stay, but over him did rake.
4.
To seek by raking; as, to rake for oysters.
5.
To lead a dissolute, debauched life.
6.
To incline from a perpendicular direction; as, a mast rakes aft.

Definition 2024


rake

rake

English

Wooden rake
Heavy duty rake

Noun

rake (plural rakes)

  1. A garden tool with a row of pointed teeth fixed to a long handle, used for collecting grass or debris, or for loosening soil.
    • 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher, chapterII:
      Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. []. Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft.
  2. (Ireland, slang) A lot, plenty.
    Jim has had a rake of trouble with his new car.
  3. (rail transport) A set of coupled rail vehicles, normally coaches or wagons.
    The train was formed of a locomotive and a rake of six coaches.
  4. (cellular automata) A puffer that emits a stream of spaceships rather than a trail of debris.
  5. The scaled commission fee taken by a cardroom operating a poker game.
  6. A toothed machine drawn by a horse, used for collecting hay or grain; a horserake.
  7. (mining) A fissure or mineral vein traversing the strata vertically, or nearly so.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

rake (third-person singular simple present rakes, present participle raking, simple past and past participle raked)

  1. To use a rake on (leaves, debris, soil, a lawn, etc) in order to loosen, gather together, or remove debris from.
    We raked all the leaves into a pile
  2. To search thoroughly.
    Detectives appeared, roped the curious people out of the grounds, and raked the place for clews. -- Captain John Blaine
    • Dryden
      raking in Chaucer for antiquated words
    • Jonathan Swift
      The statesman rakes the town to find a plot.
  3. To spray with gunfire.
    the enemy machine guns raked the roadway
  4. To claw at; to scratch.
    Her sharp fingernails raked the side of my face.
    • Wordsworth
      like clouds that rake the mountain summits
  5. To gather, especially quickly (often as rake in)
    The casino is just raking in the cash; it's like a license to print money.
  6. (intransitive) To pass with violence or rapidity; to scrape along.
    • Sir Philip Sidney
      Pas could not stay, but over him did rake.
Synonyms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English raken, from Old English racian (to direct, rule, govern, control; take a course or direction, go forward, move, run; hasten), from Proto-Germanic *rakōną (to choose a direction, run), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (to straighten, direct). Cognate with Dutch raken (to hit, touch, reach).

Noun

rake (plural rakes)

  1. Slope, divergence from the horizontal or perpendicular.
  2. (geology) The direction of slip during fault movement. The rake is measured within the fault plane.
  3. (roofing) The sloped edge of a roof at or adjacent to the first or last rafter.

Verb

rake (third-person singular simple present rakes, present participle raking, simple past and past participle raked)

  1. (intransitive) To proceed rapidly; to move swiftly.
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To guide; to direct
  3. (intransitive) To incline from a perpendicular direction.
    A mast rakes aft.

Etymology 3

Shortening of rakehell, possibly from rake (etymology 2) (to proceed rapidly).

Noun

rake (plural rakes)

  1. A man habituated to immoral conduct.
    • The Spectator
      We now have rakes in the habit of Roman senators, and grave politicians in the dress of Rakes. the Spectator
Synonyms
Translations

Verb

rake (third-person singular simple present rakes, present participle raking, simple past and past participle raked)

  1. (Britain, dialect, dated) To walk about; to gad or ramble idly.
  2. (Britain, dialect, dated) To act the rake; to lead a dissolute, debauched life.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shenstone to this entry?)

Etymology 4

From Middle English, from Old Norse rák (trail), from Proto-Germanic *rēkō, *raką, *rakō, *rakǭ (file of tracks, line), from Proto-Indo-European *(o)reg'-, *(o)reg'a- (to straighten, direct). Cognate with Icelandic rák (streak, grazing), Icelandic raka (strip, series), Norwegian røk (grazing), Norwegian rak (wick), Old English race, racu (a run, riverbed).

Alternative forms

Noun

rake (plural rakes)

  1. (provincial, Northern England) A course; direction; stretch.
  2. (provincial, Northern England, for animals) A range, stray.
    a sheep-raik = a sheep-walk

Verb

rake (third-person singular simple present rakes, present participle raking, simple past and past participle raked)

  1. (provincial, Northern England) To run or rove.

References

Anagrams


Dutch

Pronunciation

Adjective

rake

  1. Inflected form of raak

Verb

rake

  1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of raken

Hausa

Noun

ràkē m

  1. (botany) sugarcane

Scots

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English raken, from Old English racian (to direct; rule; take a course or direction; run).

Verb

rake (third-person singular present rakes, present participle rakin, past rakit, past participle rakit)

  1. To proceed with speed; go; make one's way
  2. To journey; travel
  3. (of animals) To move across or search for pasture; wander; roam
  4. To stray

Swedish

Adjective

rake

  1. absolute definite natural masculine form of rak.