shag

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Matted material; rough massed hair, fibres etc.

   “Nor ſhould it prove thy leſs important Care, / To chuſe a proper Coat for Winter's Wear. / [...] / True Witney Broad-cloath with it's Shag unſhorn, / Unpierc'd is in the laſting Tempeſt worn: [...]”

2. (countable, uncountable)Coarse shredded tobacco.

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

   “The Captain folded his brow into a look of intense perplexity. 'You seem exceedingly spry for a man who demolished an entire bottle of brandy and better part of an ounce of shag in a single evening.' 'And very nice too,' said the tramp. 'Now as to breakfast?'”

3. (countable, uncountable)A type of rough carpet pile.
4. (Ireland, UK, archaic, countable, uncountable)Bacon or fat, especially if with some remaining hair or bristles.
5. (Ireland, UK, archaic, countable, uncountable)A roughly-cut or torn-off piece of bread or cheese.

   “But it is a braw elemental sphere this o' ours, for here's a good queich o' claret for ye, an' a shag o' butter-an'-bread.”

   “romancing Shelley between / sips of thermos tea and / yeasty shags of bread, sour-sweet, / from Lizzie Coutinho’s bakery.”

6. (attributive, countable, often, uncountable)A deliberately messy, shaggy hairstyle.

   “There was that hair salon on Yonge Street called House of Lords. On a Saturday – nowadays you can't even imagine it – but imagine a hair salon having a lineup outside of people wanting to get a shag haircut.”

7. Any of several species of sea birds in the family Phalacrocoracidae (cormorant family), especially a common shag or European shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), found on European and African coasts.

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

   “St Francis of Assisi would be pushed to claim that young Shags are endearing.”

8. (capitalized, sometimes)A swing dance.

   “Its evolutionary course is unclear; however, by the late thirties, Shag was all the rage both on and off college campuses. It became so popular, in fact, that a 1937 New York Times article describes it as “the fundamental dance step for swing.””

9. (slang, vulgar)An act of sex.

   “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.”

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

   “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.”

   “The blackbirds and robins and and^([sic]) tits and finches shout at each other, chups and warbles and chirrups that, loosely translated, mean “Fancy a shag?”, “Get OFF my land” or “I’ve got a great big tonker.””

   “I’m not interested in having a tired, throwaway midweek shag. Having sex once a week means I can give it my full attention and energy.”

10. (slang, vulgar)A casual sexual partner.

    “Lizzy is a shag extraordinaire, but has a tongue like a sailor and a castrating stare.”

    “'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.'”

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

    “'Your favourite shag?' I ask her. 'Martin Kershen.' 'He was a sexy beast.'”

11. (Northwestern, Ontario)A fundraising dance in honour of a couple engaged to be married.
12. (West-Country)Friend; mate; buddy.

    “I'm fcuked then mate. Born and bred sarf london and the missarse is a brummie. Oh and her old man is a scouser!!¶ You all still sound like a bunch of inbreds though but it's better than the Hereford accent "alright shag where you be"”

    “I was going down the stairs to get my bike when I ran into Jim Mudd coming up. "Alright shag?" he said like we were best mates.”

    “Anyways, I'll check in every now and then, cheers shag :-)”

verb

1. (transitive)To make hairy or shaggy; to roughen.

   “He saw the pine its daring mantle rear, / Break the rude blast, and mock the brumal year / Shag the green zone that bounds the boreal skies, / And bid all southern vegetation rise.”

2. (intransitive, obsolete)To hang in shaggy clusters.

   “And long curld locks that downe his shoulders shag”

3. (intransitive)To shake, wiggle around.
4. (Australia, Ireland, UK, slang, transitive, vulgar)To have sex with.

   “Every time since has been a disaster. Our sex life always has been. After k.b.ing me for ages, she’d eventually let me shag her.”

   “‘You never got so much as a bit of tit in three months, and I shagged her first week!’”

   “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?”

   ““Ha! Shagging a chair is quite odd.” “Its legs were very sexy. And I know how you are, so I expected a challenge. What did you turn into anyway?” “Oh, the dowdiest mortal woman. You should have seen it.” “Oh, I would have been all over that.” “I know!””

5. (Australia, Ireland, UK, intransitive, slang, vulgar)To have sex.

   “I'm not pregnant! I have shagged and shagged and shagged and all the little bastards missed!”

6. (India, slang, transitive, vulgar)To masturbate.
7. To chase after; especially, to chase after and return (a ball) hit usually out of play.

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

   “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.”

8. (uncommon)To perform the dance called the shag.

   “Showman Monte Proser tried to cash in on the boom on a mass basis with his Dance Carnival in Madison Square Garden, where dancers lindy hopped, shagged and fox-trotted to the orchestras of Benny Goodman, Larry Clinton and Charlie Barnett[…]”

adj

1. (obsolete)Hairy; shaggy.

   “Son. Thou liest, thou shag-hair'd villain!”

2. (Singapore, Singlish, slang)Exhausted, worn out, extremely tired.

   “I suppose they could not really blame us for feeling so shack after doing PT, drill and other boring lessons in the morning.”

3. (Singapore, Singlish, slang)Tough and exhausting.