Rake
A lot. An unspecified large quantity, almost always in the construction 'a rake of [thing]'. 'A rake of pints', 'a rake of cars', 'a rake of trouble'. The implied quantity is more than several and less than a multitude; precision is the speaker's affair, not the listener's.
Etymology
From the verb 'to rake' (to gather things together). The noun-of-quantity sense comes from the literal raking image - what a rake gathers is the amount. Chiefly Irish and Scots usage; standard English uses 'a load of' or 'a heap of' for the same job. The quantitative sense is documented across Hiberno-English print and speech through the twentieth century.
In a sentence
"There was a rake of cars outside the church - half the parish must have come."
Historical notes
Rake is the workhorse Hiberno-English vague-quantity word. It pairs with 'wheen' (a smaller indeterminate number) and 'a heap of' (a larger one). The construction 'a rake of' is the standard form; bare 'rake' as a noun of quantity is rare. The word does the same indirect work as 'a few' or 'several' but with more weight - 'a rake of trouble' is more trouble than 'some trouble', less than 'a load of trouble', and just right when the speaker wants the listener to know it is more than ordinary.
Sources
- Oxford English Dictionary, entry rake n. (chiefly Irish and Scots noun of quantity). · dictionary