draggle

Definitions

  • WordNet 3.6
    • v draggle make wet and dirty, as from rain
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • v. i Draggle To be dragged on the ground; to become wet or dirty by being dragged or trailed in the mud or wet grass.
    • v. t Draggle drăg"g'l To wet and soil by dragging on the ground, mud, or wet grass; to drabble; to trail. "With draggled nets down-hanging to the tide."
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    • draggle To drag or draw along on damp ground or mud, or on wet grass; drabble.
    • draggle To wet or befoul, as by dragging the garments through dew, mud, or dirt.
    • draggle To be drawn along the ground so as to become wet or dirty.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • v.t., v.i Draggle drag′l to make or become wet and dirty by dragging along the ground
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Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Freq. of drag,. √73. Cf. Drawl
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
Freq. of drag, and a doublet of drawl.

Usage

In literature:

She was tired and draggled and dusty, and also very much scratched.
"Girls of the Forest" by L. T. Meade
The tail is thickly covered with long hairs, placed vertically, the hairs draggling on the ground.
"Heads and Tales" by Various
His clothes, seen by the lamp, looked a little draggled and dirty.
"A Son of Hagar" by Sir Hall Caine
How draggled the little bits of fern in the old china pots looked!
"A Poor Man's House" by Stephen Sydney Reynolds
Whereas, "Draggle Tail Dreary Dun" has no such recommendation to rescue it from universal execration.
"The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor" by Various
About three hours later a somewhat draggled-looking party might have been seen approaching the Chase.
"The Children of Wilton Chase" by Mrs. L. T. Meade
We come back draggled and dreadful.
"The Convert" by Elizabeth Robins
The bluebirds came about, draggled almost beyond recognition.
"Little Brothers of the Air" by Olive Thorne Miller
Its face was drawn with fatigue, and it looked rather draggled.
"David and the Phoenix" by Edward Ormondroyd
No one knew of it save Bough Van Busch and the draggle-tailed woman.
"The Dop Doctor" by Clotilde Inez Mary Graves
The flower looked drenched and draggled.
"The Wild Huntress" by Mayne Reid
And a pretty figure you'll cut then, with a draggle-tailed wife and a crowd of squalling children crying after you wherever you go!
"A Budget of Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens and Others" by Various
In two thin streams the damp men and draggled women struggle on board.
"A Padre in France" by George A. Birmingham
He was dust-covered, and draggled, and his tail drooped, and he sneezed again.
"Pariah Planet" by Murray Leinster
A desolate and lonely craft, the smoke draggled out of her funnel.
"The Harbor" by Ernest Poole
In Katharine Howard's room they had the form of the boy, wet, grey, and mud-draggled, lying on the ground between them.
"The Fifth Queen" by Ford Madox Ford
In fact, the steamboat looked like a draggled rooster with no fence or cart to hide under.
"Phemie Frost's Experiences" by Ann S. Stephens
Every article of this costume was draggled, shabby, soiled, and much of it tattered.
"Benjamin Franklin, A Picture of the Struggles of Our Infant Nation One Hundred Years Ago" by John S. C. Abbott
In the midst of it, the Crows noticed a Monkey sliding along, drenched and draggle-tailed, looking like a drowned Rat.
"The Talking Thrush" by William Crooke
It was headed straight toward a distant, stubby, draggled tramp-steamer which plodded toward the Bay of Naples.
"The Invaders" by William Fitzgerald Jenkins
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In poetry:

The Crown it furled a draggled flag,
It sheathed a broken blade.
Behold its triumph in the hag
That lives with looks decayed!
"Archduchess Anne" by George Meredith
Like ter see the brooks and ponds dimpled up all over,
Like ter see the di'mon's shine on the bendin' clover,
Like ter see the happy ducks in the puddles sailin'
And the stuck-up rooster all draggled, wet and trailin'.
"A Rainy Day" by Joseph C Lincoln

In news:

View full size Kathy Sandham Professor Henry Higgins (Bob Russell) tempts "draggle-tailed guttersnipe" Eliza Doolittle with chocolates in the Beck Center for the Arts' "My Fair Lady".
cleveland.com
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