raking

rake ¹  (rk)

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

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

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

4. To search or examine thoroughly; ransack.

5. To scrape; scratch.

6. 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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raker n.

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rake ²  (rk)

n.

An immoral or dissolute person; a libertine.

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[Short for rakehell.]

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rake ³  (rk)

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.

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[Origin unknown.]

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raking [ˈreɪkɪŋ]

n

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