Skip to main content

rake

/ɹeɪk/noun, verb

rake is a noun meaning “A garden tool with a row of pointed teeth fixed to a long handle, used for collecting debris, grass, etc., for flattening the ground, or for…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-A-K-E and has one syllable, and it appears 2.4 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of rake is rakes.

What does rake mean?

noun

  1. 1

    A garden tool with a row of pointed teeth fixed to a long handle, used for collecting debris, grass, etc., for flattening the ground, or for loosening soil; also, a similar wheel-mounted tool drawn by a horse or a tractor.

  2. 2

    A tool with a straight edge at the end used by a croupier to move chips or money across a gaming table.

  3. 3

    A type of lockpick that has a ridged or notched blade that moves across the pins in a pin tumbler lock, causing them to settle into a shear line.

  4. 4

    A type of puffer train that leaves behind a stream of spaceships as it moves.

  5. 5

    A group of mules.

  6. 6

    The act of raking.

  7. 7

    A share of profits, takings, etc., especially if obtained illegally; specifically (gambling) the scaled commission fee taken by a cardroom operating a poker game.

  8. 8

    IrelandScotlandslangA lot, plenty.

    Jim has had a rake of trouble with his new car.

  9. 9

    A course, a path, especially a narrow and steep path or route up a hillside.

  10. 10

    A fissure or mineral vein of ore traversing the strata vertically, or nearly so.

  11. 11

    ScotlandUKA series, a succession; specifically (rail transport) a set of coupled rail vehicles, normally coaches or wagons.

    The train was formed of a locomotive and a rake of six coaches.

  12. 12

    Alternative spelling of raik (“a course, a way; pastureland over which animals graze; a journey to transport something between two places; a run; also, the quantity of items so transported”).

  13. 13

    ScotlandRate of progress; pace, speed.

  14. 14

    A divergence from the horizontal or perpendicular; a slant, a slope.

  15. 15

    In full, angle of rake or rake angle: the angle between the edge or face of a tool (especially a cutting tool) and a plane (usually one perpendicular to the object that the tool is being applied to).

  16. 16

    The direction of slip during the movement of a fault, measured within the fault plane.

  17. 17

    A slant that causes the bow or stern of a watercraft to extend beyond the keel; also, the upper part of the bow or stern that extends beyond the keel.

  18. 18

    A slant of some other part of a watercraft (such as a funnel or mast) away from the perpendicular, usually towards the stern.

  19. 19

    The sloped edge of a roof at or adjacent to the first or last rafter.

  20. 20

    A person (usually a man) who is stylish but habituated to hedonistic and immoral conduct.

verb

  1. 1

    To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.

    She is raking the gravel path to keep it even.

  2. 2

    Often followed by in: to gather (things which are apart) together, especially quickly.

    The casino is just raking in the cash; it’s like a licence to print money.

  3. 3

    Often followed by an adverb or preposition such as away, off, out, etc.: to drag or pull in a certain direction.

  4. 4

    To claw at; to scrape, to scratch; followed by away: to erase, to obliterate.

    The cat’s sharp claws raked the side of my face.

  5. 5

    Followed by up: to bring up or uncover (something), as embarrassing information, past misdeeds, etc.

  6. 6

    To search through (thoroughly).

  7. 7

    To move (a beam of light, a glance with the eyes, etc.) across (something) with a long side-to-side motion; specifically (often military) to use a weapon to fire at (something) with a side-to-side motion; to spray with gunfire.

    The enemy machine guns raked the roadway.

  8. 8

    To fire upon an enemy vessel from a position in line with its bow or stern, causing one's fire to travel through the length of the enemy vessel for maximum damage.

  9. 9

    ScotlandTo move swiftly; to proceed rapidly.

  10. 10

    Of a bird of prey: to fly after a quarry; also, to fly away from the falconer, to go wide of the quarry being pursued.

  11. 11

    To incline (something) from a perpendicular direction.

    A mast rakes aft.

  12. 12

    To provide (the bow or stern of a watercraft) with a rake (“a slant that causes it to extend beyond the keel”).

  13. 13

    rareOf a watercraft: to have a rake at its bow or stern.

  14. 14

    Alternative spelling of raik (“(intransitive, Midlands, Northern England, Scotland) to walk; to roam, to wander; of animals (especially sheep): to graze; (transitive, chiefly Scotland) to roam or wander through (somewhere)”)

  15. 15

    datedrareTo behave as a rake; to lead a hedonistic and immoral life.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce rake?

  • US /ɹeɪk/

Rake has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-rake.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of rake

  • rakes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • raking participle, present
  • raked participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • raik

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is rake?

Rake appears 2.4 times per million words in written English, the 17,587th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Words people confuse with rake

Sounds like: raik (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Rake in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchrâteau (garden tool), ratisser (to act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake), fouiller, passer au peigne fin (to search through (thoroughly)), arroser (to use a weapon to fire at (something) with a…), rame (set of coupled rail vehicles)
GermanRechen, Harke (garden tool), rechen, harken (to act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake), durchkämmen (to search through (thoroughly)), Schwader (similar wheel-mounted tool drawn by horse or…)
Portugueserastel, rastelo, ancinho (garden tool), rastelar (to act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake), varrer (to search through (thoroughly)), libertino (person who is stylish but habituated to…)
Spanishrastrillo, angazo (garden tool), rastrillar (to act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake), calavera (person who is stylish but habituated to…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does rake come from?

From Middle English rake [and other forms], from Old English raca, racu, ræce (“tool with a row of pointed teeth, rake”), from Proto-Germanic *rakō, *rekô (“tool with a row of pointed teeth, rake”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to straighten, right oneself”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).