rake
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹeɪk/
rhymes: -eɪk
homophone: raik
Forms: form: rakes
form: raking
form: raked
form: raked
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: rake
form: rake
form: raked
form: rake
form: rakest
form: raked
form: rakedst
form: rakes
form: raketh
form: raked
form: rake
form: raked
form: rake
form: raked
form: rake
form: -
form: raking
form: raked
Etymology: The verb is partly derived from rake (“tool with a row of pointed teeth”) (see etymology 1) and from Middle English raken (“to rake; to gather by raking; to rake away (debris); to cover with something; (figurative) to conceal, hide; to destroy”) [and other forms], from Old Norse raka (“to scrape”), from Proto-Germanic *raką, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to straighten, right oneself”).
Cognates
The English word is cognate with Middle Dutch rāken (modern Dutch raken (“to rake”) (regional)), Middle Low German rāken, Old Danish raghæ, rakæ (modern Danish rage (“to shave”)), Old Swedish raka (modern Swedish raka (“to rake; to shave”)).
The noun is derived from the verb.
Senses: examples: text: She is raking the gravel path to keep it even.
text: We raked all the leaves into a pile.
glosses: To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.
examples: text: The casino is just raking in the cash; it’s like a licence to print money.
glosses: 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.
glosses: 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.
examples: text: The cat’s sharp claws raked the side of my face.
text: Pas could not stay, but over him did rake, / And crown'd the earth with his first touching crowne: [...]
ref: c. 1580 (date written), Philip Sidney, “(please specify the folio)”, in [Mary Sidney], editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia […] [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1593, →OCLC:
english: The New Arcadia
translation: The New Arcadia
text: 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!
ref: 1835 November 30 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Extempore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg”, in Henry [Hope] Reed, editor, The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Philadelphia, Pa.: Hayes & Zell, […], published 1860, →OCLC, page 286, column 2:
glosses: 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.
glosses: 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.
examples: text: [...] 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.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “Postscript to the Reader”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 621:
text: The statesman rakes the town to find a plot, / And dreams of forfeitures by treason got.
ref: 1724, Jonathan Swift, “On Dreams. An Imitation of Petronius.”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume VII, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 271:
text: 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.
ref: 2003 March, Karyn Monk, The Wedding Escape, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 96:
glosses: To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.
To search through (thoroughly).
synonyms: comb
comb through
go over with a fine-tooth comb
scour
examples: text: The enemy machine guns raked the roadway.
text: George took the glass again and raked the vessel. "How she does pitch!" he said.
ref: 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
text: 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.
ref: 2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 17:51 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 17 Oct 2022:
glosses: 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.
topics: government
military
nautical
politics
transport
war
glosses: 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.
glosses: To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.
To cover (something) by or as if by raking things over it.
glosses: To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.
To pick (a lock) with a rake.
Derived terms: rake-and-scrape
rake and scrape
rake in
rake it in
rake 'n' scrape
rake-'n'-scrape
rake off
rake out
rake over
rake over old coals
rake over the coals
rake together
rake up