Rowley rag

noun

A hard basaltic rock found in the Rowley Hills, near Birmingham, formerly used in paving and construction.

First used 18th c.
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounRowley rag (uncountable)
  1. uncountablegeographyA hard basaltic rock found in the Rowley Hills, near Birmingham, formerly used in paving and construction.First known use 18th c.

    Rowley-Rag appeared to be the same thing as basalt and toadstone resembled some species of lava.

    2004, Robert E Schofield, The Enlightened Joseph Priestley, Pennsylvania State University, published 2004, page 162

Origin

From the names of Rowley Regis, Rowley Hills + rag.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Rowley rag. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rowley%20rag

MLA

“Rowley rag.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rowley%20rag. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Rowley rag,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rowley%20rag.

Source: Rowley rag on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.