Ragged

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

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.