rake1
¦ noun
1. an implement consisting of a pole with a toothed crossbar or fine tines at the end, used for drawing together cut grass or leaves or smoothing loose soil or gravel.
2. an act of raking.
¦ verb
1. draw together or make smooth with a rake.
2. scratch or scrape with a long sweeping movement.
draw or drag (something) through something with a sweeping movement.
sweep with gunfire, a look, or a beam of light.
3. (rake through) rummage through.
4. (rake something in) informal make a lot of money.
5. (rake something up/over) revive the memory of a past time or event that is best forgotten.
Phrases
rake over (old) coals (or rake over the ashes) chiefly Brit. revive the memory of a past event.
Derivatives
raker noun
Origin
OE raca, racu, of Gmc origin, from a base meaning 'heap up'; the verb is partly from ON raka 'to scrape, shave'.
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rake2
¦ noun a fashionable or wealthy man of dissolute habits.
Phrases
a rake's progress a progressive deterioration through self-indulgence. [from the title of a series of engravings by Hogarth (1735).]
Origin
C17: abbrev. of archaic rakehell in the same sense.
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rake3
¦ verb
1. set at a sloping angle.
(of a ship's mast or funnel) incline from the perpendicular towards the stern.
2. (of a ship's bow or stern) project at its upper part beyond the keel.
¦ noun
1. the angle at which a thing slopes.
2. the angle of the edge or face of a cutting tool.
Derivatives
raking adjective
Origin
C17: prob. related to Ger. ragen 'to project', of unknown ultimate origin; cf. Swed. raka.
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rake4
¦ noun Brit. a number of railway carriages or wagons coupled together.
Origin
early 20th cent. (orig. Scots and north. Engl.): from ON rak 'stripe, streak', from an alt. of rek- 'to drive'.