raking

rake ¹

 (rāk)

n.

1. A long-handled implement with a row of projecting teeth at its head, used especially to gather leaves or to loosen or smooth earth.

2. A device that resembles such an implement.

v. raked, rak·ing, rakes

v.tr.

1.

a. To gather or move with or as if with a rake: rake leaves into a pile; rake in the gambling chips.

b. Informal To gain in abundance. Often used with in: a successful company that raked in the profits.

2.

a. To smooth, scrape, or loosen with a rake or similar implement: rake the soil for planting.

b. To move over or across swiftly or harshly: Cold winds raked the plains.

3. To pull or drag (a comb or one's fingers, for example) over or through something, such as one's hair.

4. To scrape; scratch: The cat raked my arm with its claws.

5. To aim heavy gunfire along the length of.

v.intr.

1. To use a rake.

2. To conduct a thorough search: raked through the files for the misplaced letter.

Phrasal Verb:

rake up

To revive or bring to light; uncover: rake up old gossip.

Idiom:

rake over the coals

To reprimand severely.

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[Middle English, from Old English raca; see reg- in Indo-European roots.]

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rak′er n.

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rake ²

 (rāk)

n.

A usually well-to-do man who is dissolute or promiscuous.

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[Short for rakehell.]

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rake ³

 (rāk)

intr. & tr.v. raked, rak·ing, rakes

To slant or cause to incline from the perpendicular: propeller blades that rake backward from the shaft; rake a ship's mast.

n.

1. Inclination from the perpendicular: the rake of a jet plane's wings.

2. The angle between the cutting edge of a tool and a plane perpendicular to the working surface to which the tool is applied.

3.

a. The angle at which a roof is inclined.

b. The inclined edge of a pitched roof or the roof of a gable or dormer.

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[Origin unknown.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

raking

(ˈreɪkɪŋ)

n

(Rugby) rugby the offence committed when a player deliberately scrapes an opponent's leg, arm, etc, with the studs of his or her boots

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014