Rag, n.
 1. A piece of cloth torn off; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred; a tatter; a fragment.
 Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, tossed,
 And fluttered into rags.   --Milton.
    Not having otherwise any rag of legality to cover the shame of their cruelty.   --Fuller.
 2. pl. Hence, mean or tattered attire; worn-out dress.
    And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm.   --Dryden.
 3. A shabby, beggarly fellow; a ragamuffin.
    The other zealous rag is the compositor.   --B. Jonson.
    Upon the proclamation, they all came in, both tag and rag.   --Spenser.
 4. Geol. A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture.
 5. Metal Working A ragged edge.
 6. A sail, or any piece of canvas. [Nautical Slang]
    Our ship was a clipper with every rag set.   --Lowell.
 Rag bolt, an iron pin with barbs on its shank to retain it in place.
 Rag carpet, a carpet of which the weft consists of narrow strips of cloth sewed together, end to end.
 Rag dust, fine particles of ground-up rags, used in making papier-maché and wall papers.
 Rag wheel. (a) A chain wheel; a sprocket wheel. (b) A polishing wheel made of disks of cloth clamped together on a mandrel.
 Rag wool, wool obtained by tearing woolen rags into fine bits, shoddy.