drag
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: drăg
ipa: /dɹæɡ/
rhymes: -æɡ
Forms: form: drags
Etymology: Possibly from English drag (“to pull along a surface”) because of the sensation of long skirts trailing on the floor, or from Yiddish טראָגן (trogn, “to wear”)
Senses: examples: text: He performed in drag.
text: I know what "in drag" means; it is the slang for going about in women's clothes.
ref: 1870 May 30, “The Men in Women's Clothes”, in The Times, →ISSN, page 13:
text: With the aid of informers they discovered where the great drag dances were being held and turned their attention thither. [...] They couldn't, of course, be advertised, but no publicity was needed. The network always managed to reach any one who might want to go and had half-a-crown to spare for a ticket. About three-quarters of the men who attended these dances were in drag.
ref: 1968, Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant, London: Cape, →OCLC, page 82:
glosses: Women's clothing worn by men for the purpose of entertainment.
glosses: Women's clothing worn by men for the purpose of entertainment.
Men's clothing worn by women for the purpose of entertainment.
qualifier: by analogy
examples: text: A heterosexual person cannot really break into their [homosexuals'] inner circles. They have parties or "drags" to which only homosexuals are admitted, and at these some generally appear in female dress.
ref: 1927, Aaron J. Rosanoff, “Sexual Psychopaths”, in Manual of Psychiatry, 6th edition, New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc., →OCLC, page 203:
text: This freedom of speech of hers was a kind of masquerade of sexuality, like the rubber breasts homosexuals put on for drags, [...]
ref: 1942, Mary McCarthy, The Company She Keeps, New York: Harcourt Brace and World, →OCLC, page 104:
glosses: A men's party attended in women's clothing.
examples: text: 1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
That Mich drag Loretta sent me about 10 pictures of her so I wouldn't think her a "decrepit old lady." But too bad—she looked like someone's biddy aunt.
text: To sublet in comfy fag hsehold for Jun, July, Aug. […] Drags & Dykes welcome.
ref: 1978 April 8, Robert Haule, “Lge Room in San Francisco (classified advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, page 14:
glosses: A drag king or drag queen.
examples: text: corporate drag
text: As the album soared to the top of the charts, straight discos picked up on it. […] The Village People performed at 2001, the same disco that provides setting for much of Saturday Night Fever. Dressed in butch gay drag, the men in the group couldn't keep the women away.
ref: 1978 April 1, Eric Rogers, “The Macho Madness of the Village People”, in Gay Community News, page 11:
glosses: Any type of clothing or costume associated with a particular occupation or subculture.
Derived terms: sense: women's clothing worn by men
word: de-drag
sense: women's clothing worn by men
word: drag act
sense: women's clothing worn by men
word: drag artist
sense: women's clothing worn by men
word: drag daughter
sense: women's clothing worn by men
word: drag king
sense: women's clothing worn by men
word: drag mother
sense: women's clothing worn by men
word: dragphobia
sense: women's clothing worn by men
word: drag queen
sense: women's clothing worn by men
word: drag show
sense: any type of clothing
word: lally-drags
word: drab