dag — ONAD · Shobdo

dag /daɡ, dæɡ

▸ noun

1 (usually dags) Australian New Zealand a lock of wool matted with dung hanging from the hindquarters of a sheep.

2 Australian New Zealand informal an entertainingly eccentric person; a character:

your father must have been a bit of a dag.

3 Australian informal a staid or socially inept person.

▪ an untidy or dirty-looking person.

– ORIGIN late Middle English (denoting a hanging pointed part of something): possibly related to tag1. dag (SENSE 1 OF THE noun) dates from the early 17th century; dag (SENSE 2 OF THE noun) is a transferred use of English dialect meaning ‘a challenge’.