Part 18

4. The subject of eager desire; that which is sought after, or prosecuted, with unreasonable or excessive passion; as, to be all the rage.

Syn. -- Anger; vehemence; excitement; passion; fury. See Anger.

Rage, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Raged (rjd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raging (r"jng).] [OF. ragier. See Rage, n.]

1. To be furious with anger; to be exasperated to fury; to be violently agitated with passion. "Whereat he inly raged." Milton.

When one so great begins to rage, he is hunted Even to falling.

Shak.

2. To be violent and tumultuous; to be violently driven or agitated; to act or move furiously; as, the raging sea or winds.

Why do the heathen rage?

Ps. ii. 1.

The madding wheels Of brazen chariots raged; dire was the noise.

Milton.

3. To ravage; to prevail without restraint, or with destruction or fatal effect; as, the plague raged in Cairo.

4. To toy or act wantonly; to sport. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Syn. -- To storm; fret; chafe; fume.

Rage, v. t. To enrage. [Obs.] Shak.

Rage"ful (-fl), a. Full of rage; expressing rage. [Obs.] "Rageful eyes." Sir P. Sidney.

Ra"ger*y (r"jr*), n. Wantonness. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Rag"ged (rg"gd), a. [From Rag, n.] 1. Rent or worn into tatters, or till the texture is broken; as, a ragged coat; a ragged sail.

2. Broken with rough edges; having jags; uneven; rough; jagged; as, ragged rocks.

3. Hence, harsh and disagreeable to the ear; dissonant. [R.] "A ragged noise of mirth." Herbert.

4. Wearing tattered clothes; as, a ragged fellow.

5. Rough; shaggy; rugged.

What shepherd owns those ragged sheep?

Dryden.

Ragged lady (Bot.), the fennel flower (Nigella Damascena). -- Ragged robin (Bot.), a plant of the genus Lychnis (L. Flos- cuculi), cultivated for its handsome flowers, which have the petals cut into narrow lobes. -- Ragged sailor (Bot.), prince's feather (Polygonum orientale). -- Ragged school, a free school for poor children, where they are taught and in part fed; -- a name given at first because they came in their common clothing. [Eng.]

-- Rag"ged*ly, adv. -- Rag"ged*ness, n.

{ Rag"gie (rg"g), or Rag"gy }, a. Ragged; rough. [Obs.] "A stony and raggie hill." Holland.

||Ragh`u*van"sa (rg`*vn"s), n. [Skr. Raguvaça.] A celebrated Sanskrit ||poem having for its subject the Raghu dynasty.