An instrument consisting of a head-piece in which teeth are inserted, and a long handle; used for collecting hay or other light things which are spread over a large surface, or in gardens for breaking and smoothing the earth.

A loose, disorderly, vicious man; a man addicted to lewdness and other scandalous vices.

The projection of the upper parts of a ship, at the height of the stem and stern, beyond the extremities of the keel. The distance between a perpendicular line from the extremity of stem or stern to the end of the keel, is the length of the rake; one the fore-rake, the other the rake-aft.

The inclination of a mast from a perpendicular direction.

Properly, to scrape; to rub or scratch with something rough; as, to rake the ground.

To gather with a rake; as, to rake hay or barley.

To clear with a rake; to smooth with a rake; as, to rake a bed ina garden; to rake land.

To collect or draw together something scattered; to gather by violence; as, to rake together wealth; to rake together slanderous tales; to rake together the rabble of a town.

To scour; to search with eagerness all corners of a place. The statesman rakes the town to find a plot.

In the military art, to enfilade; to fire in a direction with the length of any thing; particularly in naval engagement, to rake is to cannonade a ship on the stern or head, so that the balls range the whole length of the deck. Hence the phrase, to rake a ship fore and aft. To rake up, applied to fire, is to cover the fire with ashes.

To scrape; to scratch into for finding something; to search minutely and meanly; as, to rake into a dunghill.

To search with minute inspection into every part. One is for raking in Chaucer for antiquated words.

To pass with violence or rapidity; . Pas could not stay, but over him did rake.

To seek by raking; as, to rake for oysters.

To lead a dissolute, debauched life.

To incline from a perpendicular direction; as, a mast rakes aft.