Scrag
/skræɡ/noun
A rough, thin, or bony person or animal; also, the neck or a neck-like part.
Did you know?The word’s history runs through the grim world of necks and execution: in English slang, a ‘scrag’ could mean the neck, and ‘to scrag’ could mean to strangle or hang.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*skrag-
“A rough or jagged neck or throat area; a likely Germanic base behind the English word”
Old Norse
ON
skrágr
“A neck or throat; a rough, bony part”
Middle English
ME
scragge
“The neck, especially a lean or bony neck”
16th–17th Century
English
scrag
“The neck; later, a thin, bony person or animal”
18th–19th Century
English
to scrag
“To hang or strangle; also to seize or rough up”
Modern English
English
scrag
“A thin, bony person or animal; in some dialects, the neck or a rough, knobby part”