rake (redirected from thin as a rake)

rag on someone and rake on someone

Sl. to bother someone; to irritate someone; to criticize and humiliate someone. I wish you would stop ragging on me. I don't know why you are so annoyed at me. Stop raking on me!

See also: rag

rake someone over the coals and haul someone over the coals

Fig. to give someone a severe scolding. My mother hauled me over the coals for coming in late last night. The manager raked me over the coals for being late again.

See also: coal

rake something around

to spread something around with a rake. She raked the leaves around, spreading them over the flower beds as natural fertilizer. I need to rake around the soil and stir it up.

See also: around

rake something in 

1. Lit. to drawer pull something inward with a rake. Jane is raking in the leaves into a big pile.

2. Fig. to take in a lot of something, usually money. Our candidate will rake votes in by the thousand. They were raking in money by the bushel.

rake something off (of) something and rake something off

to remove something from something by raking. (Of is usually retained before pronouns.) Please rake the leaves off the lawn. Rake off the leaves.

rake something out of something and rake something out

to clean something out of something by raking. You ought to rake the leaves out of the gutter so the water will flow. Please rake out the leaves.

See also: out

rake something up 

1. Lit. to gather and clean up something with a rake. Would you please rake these leaves up before it rains? Please rake up the leaves.

2. to clean something up by raking. Would you rake the yard up? I will rake up the yard.

3. Fig. to find some unpleasant information. His opposition raked an old scandal up and made it public. That is ancient history. Why did you have to rake up that old story?

See also: up

rake through something

Fig. [for someone] to rummage through something, as if with a rake. She quickly raked through the mass of loose papers, looking for the right one. I will have to rake through everything in this drawer to find a red pencil.

See also: through

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a rake-off  (informal)

a share of the profits of something, often taken in a way that is not honest Corrupt customs officers were taking a rake-off from import taxes.

be as thin as a rake  (British, American & Australian) also be as thin as a rail (mainly American)

to be very thin He eats like a horse and yet he's as thin as a rake. She's as thin as a rail from all that running.

See also: thin

muck-raking  (informal)

the activity of trying to discover unpleasant information about people so that you can tell the public These reports are nothing but muck-raking - journalists should not be allowed to investigate ministers' private business dealings.

rake over the ashes

to think about or to talk about unpleasant events from the past

Usage notes: Ashes are what is left of something after it has been destroyed by fire.

There is no point in raking over the ashes now, you did what you thought was right at the time.

See also: ash

rake over the coals

to talk about unpleasant things from the past that other people would prefer not to talk about (usually in continuous tenses) There's no point in raking over the coals - all that happened twenty years ago, and there's nothing we can do about it now.

See also: coal

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rake in something also rake something in

to receive something valuable in large amounts University graduate students continued to rake in awards and honors this year.

Usage notes: often used about money: The fund-raiser raked in more than $23 million for the party. We were raking it in after the Times ran a review saying we were “the best.”