1. old-fashioned To excel beyond anyone or anything else. There were a lot of great entries, but I must say that this chili here tears the rag off the bush!

2. old-fashioned To be the most outrageous or unbelievable thing possible, either in a positive or a negative way. When I found out he had been reading through my text messages, well, that tore the rag off the bush! I've heard some tall tales in my time, but that one tears the rag off the bush!