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shag

UK/ˈʃaɡ/ US/ˈʃæɡ/ fairly common slang uk
noun (5) verb (1)

noun

1.

a strong coarse tobacco that has been shredded

2.

a matted tangle of hair or fiber

  • “the dog”
3.

a fabric with long coarse nap

  • “he bought a shag rug”
4.
5.

a lively dance step consisting of hopping on each foot in turn

verb

1.

dance the shag

Origin

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-West Germanic *skakkōn (“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.

Phrases

  • raise someone's shag
  • shag band
  • shag bandit
  • shag monster
  • shag wagon
  • shaggy-dog story
  • silk shag
  • strat shag

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.