draggle
/'drægl/
Definition
- Verb:
- To make something wet and dirty, typically by dragging it through mud, water, or rain-soaked ground.
- To trail or lag behind others, often in a weary or bedraggled manner.
Usage
- The verb draggle is used to describe the action of soiling or dampening an object, usually clothing or fabric, by pulling it along a wet or dirty surface. It can also describe the act of moving slowly and untidily behind a group.
- It is a transitive verb when meaning "to make wet and dirty" (e.g., She draggled her skirt). It can be intransitive when meaning "to trail behind" (e.g., The children began to draggle).
Examples
- Transitive use:
- The hiker's long coat was draggled with mud after the storm.
- She didn't want to draggle the hem of her expensive gown in the puddles.
- Intransitive use:
- The tired puppy started to draggle behind its owner.
- The last runners began to draggle as the marathon entered its final miles.
Advanced Usage
- "to be draggled": To be in a wet, dirty, and untidy state, often from being dragged.
- After walking through the field, her dress was draggled and torn.
- The word often implies a sense of weariness, untidiness, and loss of dignity associated with the soiling or lagging.
Variants and Related Words
- Bedraggle (verb): To make something wet, dirty, and limp, often to a greater degree than draggle.
- The refugees were bedraggled after their long journey in the rain.
- Draggled (adjective): Describing something that is wet, dirty, and untidy from being dragged.
- He looked at his draggled trousers with dismay.
Synonyms
- Bedaub: To smear or daub with something dirty.
- Besmirch: To make dirty; to soil.
- Lag: To fall behind; to move more slowly than others.
- Trail: To drag or be drawn along behind.
Antonyms
- Clean: To make something free from dirt.
- Lead: To be at the front or to guide.
- Precede: To go in front of.
Related Phrases
- Draggle-tail (noun, archaic): An untidily dressed woman, especially one with a wet or dirty skirt.
- The old story described the character as a poor draggle-tail.
Verb
-
make wet and dirty, as from rain
Khám phá thêm
Các từ liên quan
Từ đồng nghĩa
Từ gần giống
Từ chứa "draggle"
