Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RAKE, v.t. [Sax. racian; Sw. raka; Dan. rager, to shave, to rake; Corn. rackan; W. rhacanu; Ir. racam; G. rechen; Fr. racler; Arm. racla. The D. hark, harken, is our harrow, but of the same family, the great family of break, crack, L. frico. Class Rg, No. 34, 38, 47.]

1. Properly, to scrape; to rub or scratch with something rough; as, to rake the ground.
2. To gather with a rake; as, to rake hay or barley.
3. To clear with a rake; to smooth with a rake; as, to rule a bed in a garden; to rake land.
4. 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.
5. To scour; to search with eagerness all corners of a place. The statesman rakes the town to find a plot. – Swift.
6. In the military art, to enfilade; to fire in a direction with the length of any thing; particularly in naval engagements, 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.