lowing year"; but
it does not seem to have gained any prevalence in the College, and
is used, it is believed, only in this passage.

QUILLWHEEL. At the Wesleyan University, "when a student," says a
correspondent, "'knocks under,' or yields a point, he says he
_quillwheels_, that is, he acknowledges he is wrong."

_R_.

RAG. This word is used at Union College, and is thus explained by
a correspondent: "To _rag_ and _ragging_, you will find of very
extensive application, they being employed primarily as expressive
of what is called by the vulgar thieving and stealing, but in a
more extended sense as meaning superiority. Thus, if one declaims
or composes much better than his classmates, he is said to _rag_
all his competitors."

The common phrase, "_to take the rag off_," i.e. to excel, seems
to be the form from which this word has been abbreviated.

RAKE. At Williams and at Bowdoin Colleges, used in the phrase "to
_rake_ an X," i.e. to recite perfectly, ten being the number of
marks given for the best recitation.

RAM. A practical joke.

---- in season to be just too late
A successful _ram_ to perpetrate.
_Sophomore Independent_, Union Coll., Nov. 1854.

RAM ON THE CLERGY. At Middlebury College, a synonyme of the slang
noun, "sell."

RANTERS. At Bethany College, in Virginia, there is "a band," says
a correspondent, "calling themselves '_Ranters_,' formed for the
purpose of perpetrating all kinds of rascality and
mischievousness, both on their fellow-students and the neighboring
people. The band is commanded by one selected from the party,
called the _Grand Ranter_, whose orders are to be obeyed under
penalty of expulsion of the person offending. Among the tricks
commonly indulged in are those of robbing hen and turkey roosts,
and feasting upon the fruits of their labor, of stealing from the
neighbors their horses, to enjoy the pleasure of a midnight ride,
and to facilitate their nocturnal perambulations. If detected, and
any complaint is made, or if the Faculty are informed of their
movements, they seek revenge by shaving the tails and manes of the
favorite horses belonging to the person informing, or by some
similar trick."

RAZOR. A writer in the Yale Literary Magazine defines this word in
the following sentence: "Many of the members of this time-honored
institution, from whom we ought to expect better things, not only
do their own shaving, but actually _make their own razors_.