rakehell

See also: rake-hell

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

rake-hell

Etymology[edit]

From to rake (out) hell (“to search through hell thoroughly”), in the sense of a person so evil or immoral that they cannot be found in hell even after an extensive search: see rake (“to search through (thoroughly)”).^[1]^[2] Compare rakeshame.

Pronunciation[edit]

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪkhɛl/
- Audio (UK) (file)

Adjective[edit]

rakehell (comparative more rakehell, superlative most rakehell)

(archaic) Immoral; dissolute. [from 16th c.]
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
  And farre away, amid their rakehell bands, / They spide a Lady left all succourlesse […].

Synonyms[edit]

rakehelly

Noun[edit]

rakehell (plural rakehells)

(archaic) A lewd or wanton person; a debauchee; a rake. [from 16th c.]
- a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number). Of Industry in General”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831, →OCLC:
  It seldom doth happen, in any way of life, that a sluggard and a rakehell do not go together.
- 1725, Daniel Defoe, Everybody's Business is Nobody's Business‎^[1]:
  And indeed I believe the insolence of this creature will ruin her master at last, by driving away men of sobriety and business, and making the place a den of vagabonds and rakehells.
- 1826, [Walter Scott], chapter 32, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC:
  “It is some freak of that drunken rakehell,” said Albert, in a low voice, to his sister, who had crept out after him on tiptoe.
- c. 1906, Arthur Conan Doyle, Through the Magic Door‎^[2]:
  A fat little bookseller in the City, a rakehell wit of noble blood, and a rugged Scotch surgeon from the navy— […]

References[edit]

^ “rakehell, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2008; “rakehell, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
^ “to rake (out) hell, phrase” under “rake, v.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2008; “rake¹, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams[edit]

hell-rake

[1] “rakehell, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2008; “rakehell, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[2] “to rake (out) hell, phrase” under “rake, v.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2008; “rake¹, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

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