Forms: 5–7 iagge, (5 iogge), 8 jagg, 6– jag. [See JAG sb.1]
† 1. trans. To pierce with a sharp instrument, to stab. Obs. exc. as in b.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 2087. Sir Loth … Enjoynede with a geaunt, and jaggede hym thorowe. Ibid., 2891, 2893. Thorowe a jerownde schelde he jogges hym thorowe,… Ioyntes and gemows, he jogges in sondyre.
1507. Dunbar, Sevin Deidly Sinnis, 41. Sum iaggit vthiris to the heft, With knyvis that scherp cowd scheir.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658), 283. First, turn up his upper lip, and jagge it lightly with a launcet, so as it may bleed.
a. 1611. Beaum. & Fl., Philaster, V. iv. Jag him, Gentlemen.
1809. Southey, in Q. Rev., II. 37. He saw them jag the cocoa-shell for the purpose.
b. Sc., north. Eng., and U.S. dial. To prick with something sharp, as with a spur or thorn.
a. 1700. in J. Watson, Coll. Poems (1706), I. 39 (Jam.). He bade her ride, And with a spur did jag her side.
1819. Blackw. Mag., V. 640*. May ne’er a thorn hae power to jag the hide upon his shins.
1852. R. S. Surtees, Sponge’s Sp. Tour, l. 286. He now whipped and jagged the old nag, as if intent on catching the hounds.
1883. C. F. Smith, Southernisms, in Trans. Amer. Philol. Soc., 50. Jag, ‘to prick or pierce with a thorn or any sharp-pointed thing.’ Common in various parts of the South.
1893. in Northumbld. Gloss.
† c. absol. or intr. To pierce, thrust, prick. Obs.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 2909. Gyawntis forjustede with gentille knyghtes Thorowe gesserawntes of Iene jaggede to the herte.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VIII. Prol. 99. Sum garris wyth a ged staf to iag throw blak jakkis.
2. trans. To slash or pink (a garment, etc.) by way of ornament.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 905. A jupone of Ierodyne jaggede in schredez.
1530. Palsgr., 589/1. I jagge or culte a garment, je chicquette.
1577. trans. Bullinger’s Decades (1592), 139. To what ende doe wee iagge and gash the garmentes?
1708. Motteux, Rabelais, IV. lii. (1737), 211. His Journey-men … did jagg it and pink it at the bottom.
1839. Bailey, Festus, v. (1852), 57. Like a black block of marble, jagged with white.
3. To make indentations in the edge or surface of; to make ragged or uneven by cutting or tearing; to make rugged or bristling. To jag in, to indent with cuts.
1568. Turner, Herbal, III. 5. Angelica hath leves somethinge lyke lovage, but not so far iagged in.
1615. trans. De Monfart’s Surv. E. Indies, 22. When they take any prisoner, who by chance hath his garments cut, or iag’d, they say hee did teare them of purpose.
1692. Bentley, Boyle Lect., viii. 292. Jagged and torn by the impetuous assaults of Waves.
1748. Thomson, Cast. Indol., II. 699. The ground … Was jagg’d with frost or heap’d with glazed snow.
1764. Grainger, Sugar-Cane, III. 243. Three long rollers … With iron cas’d, and jagg’d with many a cogg.
1899. Westm. Gaz., 26 May, 5/2. A doctor was called, who said the man had jagged the windpipe.
4. trans. To dovetail or join by ‘letting in.’ U.S.
1894. Outing (U.S.), XXIV. 23/1. The ribs … run around full length, except at the trunk where they will be jagged into the piece holding the trunk to the keel.
5. Naut. To lay in long bights, as a rope, and tie with stops. U.S.
