English▸ noun
1 a piece of old cloth, especially one torn from a larger piece, used typically for cleaning things:
he wiped his hands on an oily rag
a piece of rag.
▪ (rags) old or tattered clothes:
street urchins dressed in rags.
▪ (rags) the remnants of something:
she clung to the rags of her self-control.
▪ [with negative] archaic the smallest scrap of cloth or clothing:
not a rag of clothing has arrived to us this winter.
– PHRASES
be on the rag informal, mainly North American
be menstruating.
used to describe a person's rise from a state of extreme poverty to one of great wealth:
(of clothes) tattered and torn.
be on the rag informal, mainly North American
be menstruating.
[from rag in the sense ‘sanitary towel’.]
rags to riches (also from rags to riches) used to describe a person's rise from a state of extreme poverty to one of great wealth:
it was the old rags-to-riches fantasy.
in rags (of clothes) tattered and torn.
▪ (of a person) wearing tattered old clothes.