Definition of "scragging" []

• Present participle of scrag. (verb)

Wiktionary.org : Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

• "Barmy British eccentricity rules the waves once again this Saturday as 16 straining, muscled hearties heave, two tiny coxswains fret and shout and, tradition assures us, Cockney urchins bedecked in blue scuffle alongside on the towpath scragging each other and hollering "C'mon Horx-ferd!" or "C'mon Cym-breege!""
• "As he said it, Master Bates caught up an end of his neckerchief; and, holding it erect in the air, dropped his head on his shoulder, and jerked a curious sound through his teeth; thereby indicating, by a lively pantomimic representation, that scragging and hanging were one and the same thing."
• "‘Never mind George Barnwell,’ interrupted Sam, who had remained a wondering listener during this short colloquy; ‘everybody knows what sort of a case his was, tho’ it’s always been my opinion, mind you, that the young ‘ooman deserved scragging a precious sight more than he did."