Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
on the raw en · ADV
Meanings
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(not-comparable) On exposed flesh; (chiefly figuratively), in such a way as to affect someone deeply or in a sensitive area.
He was developing a sense of humour, and found that he had a knack of saying bitter things, which caught people on the raw […].
1915, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter 18, in Of Human Bondage:What got 'im on the raw was Tommy Hogarth going against 'im in that business.
1926, Arnold Bennett, Lord Raingo: