rag doll
4
2.0
- noun
- /ræɡ dɔl/
:
muñeca de trapo
- Janet swerved around it onto the grass and nearly ran over one of Lily's rag dolls.
- vintage rag doll
- arms around her rag doll
- small rag doll
Examples
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We had to give her a rag doll to replace her baby.
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"Are you all right?" Suddenly, the little blonde girl, her rag doll clutched in one hand, raced out of her cabin and threw herself into the Mouse's arms.
Fiction book (1991) -
Granny made me a rag doll and Elen wanted it.
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She remembered this life-size rag doll she'd had when she was about his age.
Fiction book (1999) -
Hazel clutches a cardboard suitcase and a tattered rag doll.
Fiction book (1999) -
You can have any of them you want—or all four, if you like. "I want this one," said Penelope, reaching beneath the silk and withdrawing a small rag doll that had a tiny scrap of red cloth wrapped around it.
Fiction book (1991) -
The child settled down to play with her rag doll, teaching it to spell by the hot stove.
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Granny made me a rag doll and Elen wanted it.
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Little girls solemnly offered her their rag dolls, which she kissed but did not keep.
Synonyms
738
1.0
A small person-shaped toy that children play with
A small cloth toy filled with sawdust for children to play with
How Soft
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound literally evokes a doll made of rags, which conveys a clear image of something limp or floppy, so a learner who knows 'rag' and 'doll' will likely infer the core sense (moves or falls limp). However, the specific technical extension in gaming/animation — a physics-simulated character model that reacts dynamically to forces — is a specialized metaphorical use that may not be fully predictable from the parts alone. Because the basic image is transparent but the precise technical meaning requires prior exposure, the expression is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
The noun rag doll comes from simple toys made from scraps of cloth called rags and sewn into a soft doll. Because these toys were floppy and easy to hug, the name now means 'a cloth toy'.