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run someone ragged. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
run someone ragged, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
run someone ragged in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
run someone ragged you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From run + ragged (“exhausted, tired, run down”).
Pronunciation
Verb
run someone ragged (third-person singular simple present runs someone ragged, present participle running someone ragged, simple past ran someone ragged, past participle run someone ragged)
- (originally US, idiomatic) To exhaust; to demand excessive effort or work from somebody.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:tire
They’ve been running him ragged trying to keep up with the demand for new features.
1950 January, Stanley Pashko, “Scanning the Sports Scene”, in Irving Crump, editor, Boys’ Life: The Magazine for All Boys, volume XL, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Boy Scouts of America, →OCLC, page 16, column 1:A little man by modern-day goon-basketball standards, the five-foot ten-inch speedster [Ralph Beard] handles bigger opponents by running them ragged.
1992, Teresa Kao, “Nikki”, in The Quality of the Light, West Linn, Or.: Gangor Press, →ISBN, page 166:Rebeca is busy with the children, who are busy getting into mischief. The baby runs her ragged.
2010, Kaiser Jamal, chapter 1, in A Haunting of Shadows, : Xlibris, →ISBN, page 24:The choice of priorities he had chosen gave him the right to demand acceptance of his ways and ignore the needs of others. It gave him the power to insist on servitude and, without thought, dismiss Arnam's pride. It gave him the right to torment, the right to run him ragged when he chose, [...]
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