English

Noun

shag ‎(plural shags)

1. Matted material; rough massed hair, fibres etc.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Gay

     true Witney broadcloth, with its shag unshorn

2. Coarse shredded tobacco.
   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 535:

     He was rather unshaven as well and smelt strongly of shag.

3. A type of rough carpet pile.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

shag ‎(third-person singular simple present shags, present participle shagging, simple past and past participle shagged)

1. (transitive) To make hairy or shaggy; to roughen.
   • (Can we date this quote?) J. Barlow

     Shag the green zone that bounds the boreal skies.

Adjective

shag ‎(comparative more shag, superlative most shag)

1. (obsolete) hairy; shaggy

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Etymology 2

Phalacrocorax aristotelis, the European shag.

Perhaps a derivative of Etymology 1, above, with reference to the bird's shaggy crest.

Noun

shag ‎(plural shags)

1. Several species of sea birds in the family Phalacrocoracidae (cormorant family), especially the common shag or European shag, Phalacrocorax aristotelis, found on European and African coasts.
   • 1941, Ernestine Hill, My Love Must Wait, A&R Classics 2013, p. 7:

     He ran back and picked up a dead bird that had fallen. It was not a duck but a shag.

Derived terms

• Auckland shag (Phalacrocorax colensoi)
• Bounty shag (Phalacrocorax ranfurlyi)
• Campbell shag (Phalacrocorax campbelli)
• Chatham shag (Phalacrocorax onslowi)
• Heard shag (Leucarbo nivalis, syn. Phalacrocorax atriceps nivalis)
• imperial shag (Phalacrocorax atriceps)
• Kerguelen shag (Phalacrocorax verrucosus)
• king shag (Phalacrocorax carunculatus)
• Macquarie shag (Phalacrocorax purpurascens)
• Stewart Island shag (Phalacrocorax chalconotus)

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English shaggen, from Proto-Germanic *skakkōną ‎(“to shake”), specifically continuing a post-Proto-Germanic variant *skagg-, where the non-singular stem *skag- caused the analogical replacement of the stem-final voiceless geminate consonants with voiced geminates, which was then leveled throughout the paradigm.

Verb

shag ‎(third-person singular simple present shags, present participle shagging, simple past and past participle shagged)

1. (intransitive) To shake, wiggle around.
2. (transitive, vulgar slang) To have sexual intercourse with.
   • 1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 2:

     I can kick this stuff any time I like. I tell you what. Get this week over, we'll go to a health farm for ten days. No drugs. No drink. And shag ourselves silly. How about that?

3. (India, transitive, vulgar slang) To ****.
4. To chase after; especially, to chase after and return (a ball) hit usually out of play.
   • 1997, Nelson Algren, The Last Carousel (page 273)

     When a White Sox scout spotted him shagging flies on a Milwaikee^[sic] sandlot, and asked Felsch if he'd like to come to Chicago, Hap decided that that might be fun, too.

   • 1974, Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, paperback edition, Harper Torch, published 1999, ISBN 9780060589462, page 77:

     Chris is off somewhere in the darkness, but I'm not going to shag after him.

5. To perform the dance called the shag.

Translations

Noun

shag ‎(plural shags)

1. A swing dance.
2. (slang) An act of sexual intercourse.
   • 2007, Julie Andrews, "Roman Must Die", in The Leonard Variations: Clarion 2007 San Diego, ISBN 9787774574500, page 10:

     They were in the midst of an intense snog, his tongue down her throat as he tried to work out if he wanted another shag before she left for the night, when an odd noise sounded from behind the door of 2B.

   • 2010, Clara Darling, Hot City Nights, St. Martin's Press (2010), ISBN 9780312536954, page 107:

     “And feel free to come over anytime you'd like a drink and a shag. […]

   • 2011, Josephine Myles, Barging In, Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (2011), ISBN 9781609285920, page 24:

     He could say yes, then just quietly leave the area without ever seeing the man again. He could even get a shag out of Charles first.

3. (slang) A casual sexual partner.
   • 2003, Freya North, Pip, Harper (2003), ISBN 9780007462254, unnumbered page:

     'It turned out that it was me who was just a shag to him. He had a girlfriend I didn't know about. He presumed I was up for some no-strings action. And the thing is, I thought I was – in theory. But in practice, I realized that I wasn't.'

   • 2008, Bruce Cooke, Trace Elements, Eternal Press (2008), ISBN 9781897559369, page 56:

     "Was I just another shag to you, Trace? Someone to bed when the offer came?"

   • 2011, Wes Lee, "Saul", in The Sleepers Almanac, No. 7 (eds. Zoe Dattner & Louise Swinn), Sleepers Publishing (2011), ISBN 9781742702995, page 135:

     'Your favourite shag?' I ask her.

     'Martin Kershen.'

     'He was a sexy beast.'

Synonyms

• (casual sexual partner): see also Wikisaurus:casual sexual partner.

Derived terms

• shag bandit

Translations

Etymology 4

Blend of shower ‎(“bridal shower”) +‎ stag ‎(“bachelor party”).

Noun

shag ‎(plural shags)

1. (Canada, Northwestern Ontario) A fundraising dance in honour of a couple engaged to be married.

Synonyms

• stag and doe, stag and doe party (Canada, Ontario)
• social, wedding social (Canada, Prairies)

Translations

References

• “shag” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.

Anagrams

• gash
• hags

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:sexual intercourse

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology

Borrowing from English shag.

Noun

shag m ‎(uncountable, diminutive shagje n or sjekkie n)

1. shag (coarse shredded tobacco)