From Middle English dagge, of uncertain (probably Germanic) origin, cognate with (Middle) Dutch dag, dagge, dagh. The sense "dangling lock of wool, matted with dung" (originally from the dialect of Kent) is also termed "daglock" (derived from the "hanging end" sense of "dag") or "daggle-lock" and some sources consider the sense a shortening of that longer word rather than a mere evolution of the "hanging end" sense.
Meanings
A hanging end or shred, in particular a long pointed strip of cloth at the edge of a piece of clothing, or one of a row of decorative strips of cloth that may ornament a tent, booth or fairground.
A dangling lock of sheep’s wool matted with dung.
To see the dunged folds of dag-tayled sheepe. 1597-98 1597–8, Joseph_Hall_(bishop) Joseph Hall Satires, Book 5, number 1
He was one of the first significant private buyers of wool in New Zealand, playing a major part in bringing respectability to what at first was a very diverse group. He pioneered the pelletising of dag waste. 1998, Wool: Volume 8, Issue 10, as published by the Massey Wool Association
The development of dags first requires some faeces to adhere to wool, but this is only the initial step in accumulation. 1999, G. C. Waghorn, N. G. Gregory, S. E. Todd, and R. Wesselink, Dags in sheep; a look at faeces and reasons for dag formation, published in the Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association 61, on pages 43–49
[Researchers] note that free pellets are characteristic of healthy sheep and that if sheep consistently produced free pellets, wool staining and dag formation would not occur. 2006, in the compilation of the Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, volume 46, issues 1-5, published by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (Australia), on page 7
1859-1865, Hensleigh Wedgwood, A Dictionary of English Etymology
Daglocks, clotted locks hanging in dags or jags at a sheep's tail.
[…] and the use of tanniferous forages may affect faecal consistency, reducing the formation of dag (faeces-coated wool). 2004, Mette Vaarst, Animal health and welfare in organic agriculture, page 323:
From Middle English dagge, of uncertain (probably Germanic) origin, cognate with (Middle) Dutch dag, dagge, dagh. The sense "dangling lock of wool, matted with dung" (originally from the dialect of Kent) is also termed "daglock" (derived from the "hanging end" sense of "dag") or "daggle-lock" and some sources consider the sense a shortening of that longer word rather than a mere evolution of the "hanging end" sense.
Meanings
To shear the hindquarters of a sheep in order to remove dags or prevent their formation.
After learning how to crutch at 13, he could dag 400 sheep in a day by the spring of 1965 and earned himself more than just a bit of pocket money. 2010 January 29, Emma Partridge, “Richie Foster a cut above the rest”, in Stock Journal:
Blade shearers could shear, crutch, mules or dag sheep anywhere they were needed. 2007, Graeme R. Quick, Remarkable Australian Farm Machines: Ingenuity on the Land:
(transitive) To cut or slash the edge of a garment into dags
(dialectal, obsolete) To sully; to make dirty; to bemire.
Vexing the baths with his dagg'd rout. a. 1661, B. Holyday, Juvenal's Satires:
From Old French dague (from Old Occitan dague, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *daca (“Dacian knife”), from the Roman province Dacia (roughly modern Romania); the ending is possibly the faintly pejorative -ard suffix, as in poignard (“dagger”)); cognate with dagger.
Meanings
A skewer.
A spit, a sharpened rod used for roasting food over a fire.
(obsolete) A dagger; a poniard.
When we reached the poop-stairs an officer in a blue coat came forward jabbering some jargon; but the captain would have no parley with him, but flung his dag clean into the man's face, and over he went backwards— with his damned high heels in the air. 1904, Robert Hugh Benson, By what Authority?, page 400:
Soon after this, however, there were brought into the country these old-time dags, useful weapons which rendered far easier the labors of men and of women. These were employed for many years, but later the company sent in an improved knife, more useful for skinning and for the other purposes of camp life, but not nearly so good for war. 1899 May 6, “Old Hudson's Bay Dag”, in Forest and Stream, volume 52, number 18, page 347:
Even when my dag was levelled at his heart 1515, Thomas Kyd, Arden of Feversham:
(obsolete) A kind of large pistol.
The Spaniards discharged their dags, and hurt some. 1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], →OCLC:
Powder! No, Sir; my dag shall be my dagger. 1630, Thomas Dekker, The Whore of Babylon:
A sort of pistol, called a dag, was used about the same time as hand guns and harquebuts. 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons:
From Old French dague (from Old Occitan dague, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *daca (“Dacian knife”), from the Roman province Dacia (roughly modern Romania); the ending is possibly the faintly pejorative -ard suffix, as in poignard (“dagger”)); cognate with dagger.
Meanings
(transitive) To skewer food, for roasting over a fire.
N-less (or nonnasal) variant of dang, a euphemism for damn.
Meanings
(US, informal) Expressing shock, awe or surprise; used as a general intensifier.
Dag, yo. 2002 December 2, Michael Chapman; Matthew Chapman, “Teen Girl Squad Issue #1”, in Homestar Runner, spoken by Strong Bad as What's Her Face (Matthew Chapman):
Perhaps a back-formation from daggy, or, a specialised sense of British dialect dag, a daring feat amongst boys.
Meanings
(Australia, derogatory, slang) One who dresses unfashionably or without apparent care about appearance; someone who is not cool; a dweeb or nerd.
What did you think about Mark calling you a dag?
To me a dag is a person who doesn't have a lot of pride in their appearance or the way they present themselves — the way they sing and how they hold themselves basically. But it didn't really bother me. He said, "You're such a dag, you're cool." I took it as "you're a laidback person". The way they cut it and edited it made it sound on TV like I was grumpy about it, but I wasn't. It was pretty funny how it came across. 2006 September 26, “Klancie Keough eliminated”, in TV Week:
2004 July 25, Debbie Kruger, Melbourne Weekly Magazine, All the World's a Stage,
Now, wide-eyed and unfashionably excited ("I’m such a dag!" she remarks several times), she has the leading role of Viola in the Bell Shakespeare Company’s production of Twelfth Night, opening on August 10 at the Victorian Arts Centre Playhouse.
A graduate of film studies in New York, May has had a hand in editing two of his three videos. Each casts him as a bespectacled dag in a world of glamour. 2010 January 15, Michael Dwyer, “Talented dag plucks up the cool”, in The Age:
SHE is one of Hollywood's most beautiful leading ladies and has access to any fashion designers, so then why is Catherine Zeta-Jones dressing like a bag lady? 2009 November 14, “Catherine Zeta - Hollywood's biggest dag?”, in Daily Telegraph:
(Australia, New-Zealand, obsolete, slang) An odd or eccentric person; someone who is a bit strange but amusingly so.
Of North Germanic origin, probably to Old Norse dag (“drizzle, haze, mist, dew”); compare Old Swedish dag, Swedish dagg (“dew”), vs Old Swedish dug (“drizzle”) Swedish dugg (“drizzle”). Doublet of dew.
Meanings
A misty shower; dew.
I write in a part of England where the vulgar invariably use shew for the preterite showed, &c. &c. "This morning, before the dag was off, I sew seed enow for this week, and then wed two beds", was the reply returned to me by my gardener, a few days ago. 1872, Fitzedward Hall, Recent Exemplifications of False Philology:
Of North Germanic origin, probably to Old Norse dag (“drizzle, haze, mist, dew”); compare Old Swedish dag, Swedish dagg (“dew”), vs Old Swedish dug (“drizzle”) Swedish dugg (“drizzle”). Doublet of dew.
There it was again, that old Gaelic verb pronounced 'scriss,' that those involved in fighting talk apparently exuded on occasion. It could have been 'D'ya wanna buy a dag?' it was all the same. 2014, John P Brady, Back to the Gaff, Roadside Fiction, →ISBN, page 131:
Mickey: Dags! D' ya like dags? 2000, Guy Ritchie, Snatch, quoted in, Miguel Á. Bernal-Merino, Translation and Localisation in Video Games: Making Entertainment Software Global, Routledge →ISBN, page 68