shag

English

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ʃæɡ/
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -æɡ

Etymology 1

From Middle English *schagge, from Old English sceacga (“hair”), from Proto-Germanic *skaggiją (“beard, stem”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kek-, *(s)keg- (“to jump, move, hurry”). Akin to Old Norse skegg (“beard”) (compare Danish skæg, Norwegian skjegg, Swedish skägg).

Noun

shag (countable and uncountable, plural shags)

  1. Matted material; rough massed hair, fibres etc.
  2. Coarse shredded tobacco.
    • 1978, Durrell, Lawrence, Livia (Avignon Quintet; 2), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 535:
      He was rather unshaven as well and smelt strongly of shag.
    • 1992, Rankin, Robert, The Antipope, page 68:
      The Captain folded his brow into a look of intense perplexity. 'You seem exceedingly spry for a man who demolished an entire bottle of brandy and better part of an ounce of shag in a single evening.'
      'And very nice too,' said the tramp. 'Now as to breakfast?'
  3. A type of rough carpet pile.
  4. (Britain, archaic) Bacon or fat, especially if with some remaining hair or bristles.
  5. (Britain, archaic) A roughly-cut or torn-off piece of bread or cheese.
    • 1830 January 23, Ettrick Shepherd, “Dr David Dale's Account of a Grand Aerial Voyage”, in The Edinburgh Literary Journal‎, volume 3, number 63, page 52:
      But it is a braw elemental sphere this o' ours, for here's a good queich o' claret for ye, an' a shag o' butter-an'-bread.
    • 2001, Neriya, Ranjani, “Husk”, in Beloit Poetry Journal‎, volume 51, number 4, page 21:
      romancing Shelley between / sips of thermos tea and / yeasty shags of bread, sour-sweet, / from Lizzie Coutinho’s bakery.
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

shag (third-person singular simple present shags, present participle shagging, simple past and past participle shagged)

  1. (transitive) To make hairy or shaggy; to roughen.
    • 1809, Joel Barlow, The Columbiad: A Poem‎, page 34:
      He saw the pine its daring mantle rear, / Break the rude blast, and mock the brumal year / Shag the green zone that bounds the boreal skies, / And bid all southern vegetation rise.
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To hang in shaggy clusters.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)

Adjective

shag (comparative more shag, superlative most shag)

  1. (obsolete) hairy; shaggy

Etymology 2
Phalacrocorax aristotelis, the European shag

Perhaps a derivative of Etymology 1, above, with reference to the bird's shaggy crest.

Noun

shag (plural shags)

  1. Several species of sea birds in the family Phalacrocoracidae (cormorant family), especially the common shag or European shag, Phalacrocorax aristotelis, found on European and African coasts.
    • 1941, Ernestine Hill, My Love Must Wait, A&R Classics 2013, p. 7:
      He ran back and picked up a dead bird that had fallen. It was not a duck but a shag.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English schaggen, a variant of Middle English schoggen (“to shake; shake off; tremble”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps a byform of Middle English schokken (“to shake; move rapidly”), related to Middle Low German schokken (“to shake; tremble”). Alternatively, perhaps ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skakkōną (“to shake”), specifically continuing a post-Proto-Germanic variant *skagg-, where the non-singular stem *skag- caused the analogical replacement of the stem-final voiceless geminate consonants with voiced geminates, which was then leveled throughout the paradigm.

Verb

shag (third-person singular simple present shags, present participle shagging, simple past and past participle shagged)

  1. (intransitive) To shake, wiggle around.
  2. (transitive, vulgar slang) To have sexual intercourse with.
    • 1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 2:
      I can kick this stuff any time I like. I tell you what. Get this week over, we'll go to a health farm for ten days. No drugs. No drink. And shag ourselves silly. How about that?
  3. (India, transitive, vulgar slang) To masturbate.
  4. To chase after; especially, to chase after and return (a ball) hit usually out of play.
    • 1997, Nelson Algren, The Last Carousel (page 273)
      When a White Sox scout spotted him shagging flies on a Milwaikee[sic] sandlot, and asked Felsch if he'd like to come to Chicago, Hap decided that that might be fun, too.
    • 1974, Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, paperback edition, Harper Torch, published 1999, →ISBN, page 77:
      Chris is off somewhere in the darkness, but I'm not going to shag after him.
  5. To perform the dance called the shag.
Translations

Noun

shag (plural shags)

  1. A swing dance.
  2. (slang) An act of sexual intercourse.
    • 2007, Julie Andrews, "Roman Must Die", in The Leonard Variations: Clarion 2007 San Diego, →ISBN, page 10:
      They were in the midst of an intense snog, his tongue down her throat as he tried to work out if he wanted another shag before she left for the night, when an odd noise sounded from behind the door of 2B.
    • 2010, Clara Darling, Hot City Nights, St. Martin's Press (2010), →ISBN, page 107:
      “And feel free to come over anytime you'd like a drink and a shag. […]
    • 2011, Josephine Myles, Barging In, Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (2011), →ISBN, page 24:
      He could say yes, then just quietly leave the area without ever seeing the man again. He could even get a shag out of Charles first.
  3. (slang) A casual sexual partner.
    • 2003, Freya North, Pip, Harper (2003), →ISBN, unnumbered page:
      'It turned out that it was me who was just a shag to him. He had a girlfriend I didn't know about. He presumed I was up for some no-strings action. And the thing is, I thought I was – in theory. But in practice, I realized that I wasn't.'
    • 2008, Bruce Cooke, Trace Elements, Eternal Press (2008), →ISBN, page 56:
      "Was I just another shag to you, Trace? Someone to bed when the offer came?"
    • 2011, Wes Lee, "Saul", in The Sleepers Almanac, No. 7 (eds. Zoe Dattner & Louise Swinn), Sleepers Publishing (2011), →ISBN, page 135:
      'Your favourite shag?' I ask her.
      'Martin Kershen.'
      'He was a sexy beast.'
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 4

Blend of shower (“bridal shower”) +‎ stag (“bachelor party”).

Noun

shag (plural shags)

  1. (Canada, Northwestern Ontario) A fundraising dance in honour of a couple engaged to be married.
Synonyms
  • stag and doe, stag and doe party (Canada, Ontario)
  • social, wedding social (Canada, Prairies)
Translations

References
  • “shag” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.

Etymology 5

Etymology unknown

Noun

shag (plural shags)

  1. (West Country) Friend; mate; buddy.
    • 2008 January 9, ex_rubberdagger [username], “The Guzz Accent”, in Navy Net Forums‎:
      I'm fcuked then mate. Born and bred sarf london and the missarse is a brummie. Oh and her old man is a scouser!!¶ You all still sound like a bunch of inbreds though but it's better than the Hereford accent "alright shag where you be"
    • 2010, Featherstone, John, Hangman's Got The Blues:
      I was going down the stairs to get my bike when I ran into Jim Mudd coming up. "Alright shag?" he said like we were best mates.
    • 2015 February 18, “Not had a fag for weeks”, in Reddit‎, r/TheRedLion:
      Anyways, I'll check in every now and then, cheers shag :-)
Synonyms

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English shag.

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Noun

shag m (uncountable, diminutive shagje n or sjekkie n)

  1. shag (coarse shredded tobacco)
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