To carry off the palm.
1833. Well, Sam, you do take the rag off the bush, that’s sartin.—J. K. Paulding, ‘The Banks of the Ohio,’ i. 217 (Lond.).
1843. There was present every chap in the settlements that could split a bullet on his knife blade or take the rag off the bush.—B. R. Hall (‘Robert Carlton’), ‘The New Purchase,’ i. 126.
1848. [The question] not only took the rag off the bush, but took the bush itself off the ground.—Mr. Benton of Missouri, U.S. Senate, July: Cong. Globe, p. 1017, App.
1854. Elvira takes the rag off any thing there ’s about these parts.—Knick. Mag., xliv. 576 (Dec.).
