rake

noun

1. A garden tool with a row of pointed teeth fixed to a long handle, used for collecting debris, grass, etc., for flattening the ground, or for loosening soil; also, a similar wheel-mounted tool drawn by a horse or a tractor.

   “Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. […] Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft.”

2. (broadly)A similarly shaped tool used for other purposes.
3. (broadly)A similarly shaped tool used for other purposes.
4. A type of puffer train that leaves behind a stream of spaceships as it moves.

   “I've been dealing primarily with rake and spaceship interactions for ease of experimentation (a rake will invariably escape before being eaten by even its most hellish progeny, and a spaceship is easy to redraw on the spot).”

   “That would mean building rake guns or glider gun arrays to construct moving walls.”

   “The switch engine is unstable but a number of them working in combination can form stable puffers, spaceships and rakes.”

5. The act of raking.
6. Something that is raked.
7. (Ireland, Scotland, slang)Something that is raked.

   “Jim has had a rake of trouble with his new car.”

8. (Northern-England, also, figuratively)A course, a path, especially a narrow and steep path or route up a hillside.
9. A fissure or mineral vein of ore traversing the strata vertically, or nearly so.
10. (British, Scotland)A series, a succession; specifically (rail transport) a set of coupled rail vehicles, normally coaches or wagons.

    “The train was formed of a locomotive and a rake of six coaches.”

    “On February 21 Class "O4/1" 2-8-0 No. 63635 passed through Manchester (Victoria) heading in the Rochdale direction with a rake of empty wagons.”

11. (Midlands, Northern-England, alt-of, alternative)Alternative spelling of raik (“a course, a way; pastureland over which animals graze; a journey to transport something between two places; a run; also, the quantity of items so transported”).
12. (Scotland)Rate of progress; pace, speed.
13. A divergence from the horizontal or perpendicular; a slant, a slope.
14. (specifically)In full, angle of rake or rake angle: the angle between the edge or face of a tool (especially a cutting tool) and a plane (usually one perpendicular to the object that the tool is being applied to).
15. The direction of slip during the movement of a fault, measured within the fault plane.
16. Senses relating to watercraft.
17. Senses relating to watercraft.
18. The sloped edge of a roof at or adjacent to the first or last rafter.
19. A person (usually a man) who is stylish but habituated to hedonistic and immoral conduct.

    “We have now and then rakes in the habit of Roman senators, and grave politicians in the dress of rakes. The misfortune of the thing is, that people dress themselves in what they have a mind to be, and not what they are fit for.”

    “For honest men delight will take, / To shew you favour for his sake, / Will flatter you; and Fool and Rake / Your steps pursue: / And of your Father's name will make / A snare for you.”

    “"He was a big old rake, full of marks and scars, and he had only an ear and a half."”

    “I have no choice but to take up the foil once again and vanquish this rake.”

    “I am fully subscribed to the belief that reformed rakes make the very best of husbands.”

verb

1. To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.

   “She is raking the gravel path to keep it even.”

   “We raked all the leaves into a pile.”

2. (also, figuratively, transitive)To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.

   “The casino is just raking in the cash; it’s like a licence to print money.”

3. (transitive)To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.
4. (ambitransitive, figuratively)To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.

   “The cat’s sharp claws raked the side of my face.”

   “Pas could not stay, but over him did rake, / And crown'd the earth with his first touching crowne: [...]”

   “Like clouds that rake the mountain-summits, / Or waves that own no curbing hand, / How fast has brother followed brother, / From sunshine to the sunless land!”

5. (ambitransitive, figuratively)To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.
6. (ambitransitive, figuratively)To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.

   “[...] I have added to both of them [language and poetry] in the choice of Words, and Harmony of Numbers which were wanting, [...] One is for raking in [Geoffrey] Chaucer (our Engliſh Ennius) for antiquated Words, which are never to be reviv'd, but when Sound or Significancy is wanting in the preſent Language.”

   “The statesman rakes the town to find a plot, / And dreams of forfeitures by treason got.”

   “Jack's gaze raked the room, searching for some indication that something was wrong, that someone was going to suddenly spring forward and grab her.”

7. (also, ambitransitive, figuratively)To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.

   “The enemy machine guns raked the roadway.”

   “George took the glass again and raked the vessel. "How she does pitch!" he said.”

   “Armor-piercing shells were heading up the shell hoists, but this procedure took a few minutes, allowing the battered American flagship to reply in kind, the gunners somewhat motivated to set new records for the rate of fire as the cruiser raked the larger ship from stem to stern in response.”

8. (also, ambitransitive, figuratively)To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.
9. (Ireland, Northern-England, Scotland, also, figuratively, transitive)To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.
10. To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.
11. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative spelling of raik (“(intransitive, Midlands, Northern England, Scotland) to walk; to roam, to wander; of animals (especially sheep): to graze; (transitive, chiefly Scotland) to roam or wander through (somewhere)”)
12. (Midlands, Northern-England, Scotland, intransitive)To move swiftly; to proceed rapidly.
13. (intransitive)Of a bird of prey: to fly after a quarry; also, to fly away from the falconer, to go wide of the quarry being pursued.
14. (ambitransitive)To incline (something) from a perpendicular direction.

    “A mast rakes aft.”

15. (transitive)Senses relating to watercraft.
16. (intransitive, rare)Senses relating to watercraft.
17. (dated, intransitive, rare)To behave as a rake; to lead a hedonistic and immoral life.

    “When women hid their necks , and veil'd their faces , Nor romp'd , nor raked , nor stared at public places”

name

1. (countable, uncountable)A surname.
2. (countable, uncountable)A village in Rogate parish, Chichester district, West Sussex, England (OS grid ref SU8027).
3. (countable, uncountable)A small town in Winnebago County, Iowa, United States, named after a pioneer citizen.