dag

 
Pronunciation: /dag/

noun

  • 1 (usually dags) Australian/NZ a lock of wool matted with dung hanging from the hindquarters of a sheep.
  • 2Australian/NZ informal an entertainingly eccentric person; a character: your father must have been a bit of a dag
  • 3Australian informal a conservative or unfashionable person.
  • an untidy or dirty-looking person.
  • an awkward adolescent.

verb (dags, dagging, dagged)

[with object] Australian/NZ
  • cut dags from (a sheep): we failed to have the ewes dagged

Phrases

rattle one's dags

Australian/NZ informal hurry up.

Origin:

late Middle English (denoting a hanging pointed part of something): possibly related to tag1. dag (sense 1 of the noun) dates from the early 17th century; dag (sense 2 of the noun) is a transferred use of English dialect meaning 'a challenge'