Pronunciations
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/ɹeɪk/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
Noun
A garden tool with a row of pointed teeth fixed to a long handle, used for collecting debris, grass, etc., for flattening the ground, or for loosening soil; also, a similar wheel-mounted tool drawn by a horse or a tractor.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. […] Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft.
A similarly shaped tool used for other purposes. A tool with a straight edge at the end used by a croupier to move chips or money across a gaming table.
Usage- broadly
A similarly shaped tool used for other purposes. A type of lockpick that has a ridged or notched blade that moves across the pins in a pin tumbler lock, causing them to settle into a shear line.
Usage- broadly
A type of puffer train that leaves behind a stream of spaceships as it moves.
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More examples (1)
I've been dealing primarily with rake and spaceship interactions for ease of experimentation (a rake will invariably escape before being eaten by even its most hellish progeny, and a spaceship is easy to redraw on the spot).
That would mean building rake guns or glider gun arrays to construct moving walls.
The switch engine is unstable but a number of them working in combination can form stable puffers, spaceships and rakes.
A group of mules.
Usage- collective
- Examples
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Plus, his ever-increasing rake of mules were outgrowing the small parcel of acreage he had inherited in Tennessee.
making the total payload of a typical rake of mules about 20 times greater than that of even the strongest flameme.
More examples (1)
But not to trouble the reader with a farther account of the particulars of this melancholy part of our journey; I shall only fay, that with infinite toil and danger, and by the assistance of God Almighty, we overcame all difficulty, and at last got clear of the dismal and inhofpitable mountains of Nicaragua, and paffed by the fide of a favanna, on a rifing ground, where two rakes of mules were grazing.
Verb
To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.
- Examples
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She is raking the gravel path to keep it even.
We raked all the leaves into a pile.
To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake. Often followed by in: to gather (things which are apart) together, especially quickly.
Usage- also
- Figurative
- Transitive
- Examples
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The casino is just raking in the cash; it’s like a licence to print money.
To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake. Often followed by an adverb or preposition such as away, off, out, etc.: to drag or pull in a certain direction.
Usage- Transitive
To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake. To claw at; to scrape, to scratch; followed by away: to erase, to obliterate.
Usage- Transitive or intransitive
- Figurative
- Examples
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The cat’s sharp claws raked the side of my face.
Pas could not stay, but over him did rake, / And crown'd the earth with his first touching crowne: [...]
More examples (1)
Like clouds that rake the mountain-summits, / Or waves that own no curbing hand, / How fast has brother followed brother, / From sunshine to the sunless land!
To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake. Followed by up: to bring up or uncover (something), as embarrassing information, past misdeeds, etc.
Usage- Transitive or intransitive
- Figurative
To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake. To search through (thoroughly).
Usage- Transitive or intransitive
- Figurative
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[...] I have added to both of them [language and poetry] in the choice of Words, and Harmony of Numbers which were wanting, [...] One is for raking in [Geoffrey] Chaucer (our Engliſh Ennius) for antiquated Words, which are never to be reviv'd, but when Sound or Significancy is wanting in the preſent Language.
The statesman rakes the town to find a plot, / And dreams of forfeitures by treason got.
Jack's gaze raked the room, searching for some indication that something was wrong, that someone was going to suddenly spring forward and grab her.
To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake. To move (a beam of light, a glance with the eyes, etc.) across (something) with a long side-to-side motion; specifically (often military) to use a weapon to fire at (something) with a side-to-side motion; to spray with gunfire.
Usage- also
- Transitive or intransitive
- Figurative
- Examples
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The enemy machine guns raked the roadway.
George took the glass again and raked the vessel. "How she does pitch!" he said.
More examples (1)
Armor-piercing shells were heading up the shell hoists, but this procedure took a few minutes, allowing the battered American flagship to reply in kind, the gunners somewhat motivated to set new records for the rate of fire as the cruiser raked the larger ship from stem to stern in response.
To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake. To move (a beam of light, a glance with the eyes, etc.) across (something) with a long side-to-side motion; specifically (often military) to use a weapon to fire at (something) with a side-to-side motion; to spray with gunfire. To fire upon an enemy vessel from a position in line with its bow or stern, causing one's fire to travel through the length of the enemy vessel for maximum damage.
Usage- also
- Transitive or intransitive
- Figurative
To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake. To cover (something) by or as if by raking things over it.
Usage- Ireland
- Northern-England
- Scotland
- also
- Figurative
- Transitive
To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake. To pick (a lock) with a rake.
Noun
The act of raking.
Something that is raked. A share of profits, takings, etc., especially if obtained illegally; specifically (gambling) the scaled commission fee taken by a cardroom operating a poker game.
Something that is raked. A lot, plenty.
Usage- Ireland
- Scotland
- Slang
- Examples
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Jim has had a rake of trouble with his new car.
Noun
A course, a path, especially a narrow and steep path or route up a hillside.
Usage- Northern-England
- also
- Figurative
A fissure or mineral vein of ore traversing the strata vertically, or nearly so.
A series, a succession; specifically (rail transport) a set of coupled rail vehicles, normally coaches or wagons.
Usage- Scotland
- UK usage
- Synonyms
- Examples
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The train was formed of a locomotive and a rake of six coaches.
On February 21 Class "O4/1" 2-8-0 No. 63635 passed through Manchester (Victoria) heading in the Rochdale direction with a rake of empty wagons.
Verb
To move swiftly; to proceed rapidly.
Usage- Midlands
- Northern-England
- Scotland
- Intransitive
Of a bird of prey: to fly after a quarry; also, to fly away from the falconer, to go wide of the quarry being pursued.
Usage- Intransitive
Noun
Rate of progress; pace, speed.
Usage- Scotland
Verb
To incline (something) from a perpendicular direction.
Usage- Transitive or intransitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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A mast rakes aft.
Senses relating to watercraft. To provide (the bow or stern of a watercraft) with a rake (“a slant that causes it to extend beyond the keel”).
Usage- Transitive
Senses relating to watercraft. Of a watercraft: to have a rake at its bow or stern.
Usage- Intransitive
- Rare
Noun
A divergence from the horizontal or perpendicular; a slant, a slope.
In full, angle of rake or rake angle: the angle between the edge or face of a tool (especially a cutting tool) and a plane (usually one perpendicular to the object that the tool is being applied to).
Usage- specifically
The direction of slip during the movement of a fault, measured within the fault plane.
Senses relating to watercraft. A slant that causes the bow or stern of a watercraft to extend beyond the keel; also, the upper part of the bow or stern that extends beyond the keel.
Senses relating to watercraft. A slant of some other part of a watercraft (such as a funnel or mast) away from the perpendicular, usually towards the stern.
The sloped edge of a roof at or adjacent to the first or last rafter.
Noun
A person (usually a man) who is stylish but habituated to hedonistic and immoral conduct.
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More examples (2)
We have now and then rakes in the habit of Roman senators, and grave politicians in the dress of rakes. The misfortune of the thing is, that people dress themselves in what they have a mind to be, and not what they are fit for.
For honest men delight will take, / To shew you favour for his sake, / Will flatter you; and Fool and Rake / Your steps pursue: / And of your Father's name will make / A snare for you.
"He was a big old rake, full of marks and scars, and he had only an ear and a half."
I have no choice but to take up the foil once again and vanquish this rake.
More examples (1)
I am fully subscribed to the belief that reformed rakes make the very best of husbands.
Verb
To behave as a rake; to lead a hedonistic and immoral life.
Usage- Dated
- Intransitive
- Rare
- Examples
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When women hid their necks , and veil'd their faces , Nor romp'd , nor raked , nor stared at public places
Noun
a dissolute man in fashionable society
- Synonyms
degree of deviation from a horizontal plane
- Examples
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the roof had a steep pitch
a long-handled tool with a row of teeth at its head; used to move leaves or loosen soil
- Broader terms
Verb
move through with or as if with a rake
- Examples
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She raked her fingers through her hair
level or smooth with a rake
- Examples
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rake gravel
sweep the length of
- Broader terms
- Examples
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The gunfire raked the coast
examine hastily
- Synonyms
- Examples
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She scanned the newspaper headlines while waiting for the taxi
gather with a rake
- Broader terms
- Examples
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rake leaves
scrape gently
- Broader terms
- Examples
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graze the skin