[syn: ruffle, pleat]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ruffle \Ruf"fle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ruffled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Ruffling.] [From Ruff a plaited collar, a drum beat, a
tumult: cf. OD. ruyffelen to wrinkle.]
1. To make into a ruff; to draw or contract into puckers,
plaits, or folds; to wrinkle.
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2. To furnish with ruffles; as, to ruffle a shirt.
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3. To oughen or disturb the surface of; to make uneven by
agitation or commotion.
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The fantastic revelries . . . that so often ruffled
the placid bosom of the Nile. --I. Taylor.
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She smoothed the ruffled seas. --Dryden.
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4. To erect in a ruff, as feathers.
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[the swan] ruffles her pure cold plume. --Tennyson.
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5. (Mil.) To beat with the ruff or ruffle, as a drum.
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6. To discompose; to agitate; to disturb.
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These ruffle the tranquillity of the mind. --Sir W.
Hamilton.
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But, ever after, the small violence done
Rankled in him and ruffled all his heart.
--Tennyson.
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7. To throw into disorder or confusion.
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Where best
He might the ruffled foe infest. --Hudibras.
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8. To throw together in a disorderly manner. [R.]
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I ruffled up falen leaves in heap. --Chapman
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To ruffle the feathers of, to exite the resentment of; to
irritate.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ruffle \Ruf"fle\, v. i. [Perhaps of different origin from ruffle
to wrinkle; cf. OD. roffeln, roffen, to pander, LG. raffein,
Dan. ruffer a pimp. Cf. Rufflan.]
1. To grow rough, boisterous, or turbulent. [R.]
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The night comes on, and the bleak winds
Do sorely ruffle. --Shak.
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2. To become disordered; to play loosely; to flutter.
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On his right shoulder his thick mane reclined,
Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind. --Dryden.
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3. To be rough; to jar; to be in contention; hence, to put on
airs; to swagger.
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They would ruffle with jurors. --Bacon.
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Gallants who ruffled in silk and embroidery. --Sir
W. Scott.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ruffle \Ruf"fle\, n. [See Ruffle, v. t. & i.]
1. That which is ruffled; specifically, a strip of lace,
cambric, or other fine cloth, plaited or gathered on one
edge or in the middle, and used as a trimming; a frill.
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2. A state of being ruffled or disturbed; disturbance;
agitation; commotion; as, to put the mind in a ruffle.
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3. (Mil.) A low, vibrating beat of a drum, not so loud as a
roll; -- called also ruff. --H. L. Scott.
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4. (Zool.) The connected series of large egg capsules, or
oothecae, of any one of several species of American marine
gastropods of the genus Fulgur. See Ootheca.
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Ruffle of a boot, the top turned down, and scalloped or
plaited. --Halliwell.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
ruffle
n 1: a strip of pleated material used as a decoration or a trim
[syn: frill, flounce, ruffle, furbelow]
2: a high tight collar [syn: choker, ruff, ruffle, neck
ruff]
3: a noisy fight [syn: affray, disturbance, fray,
ruffle]
v 1: stir up (water) so as to form ripples [syn: ripple,
ruffle, riffle, cockle, undulate]
2: trouble or vex; "ruffle somebody's composure"
3: to walk with a lofty proud gait, often in an attempt to
impress others; "He struts around like a rooster in a hen
house" [syn: tittup, swagger, ruffle, prance,
strut, sashay, cock]
4: discompose; "This play is going to ruffle some people"; "She
has a way of ruffling feathers among her colleagues"
5: twitch or flutter; "the paper flicked" [syn: flick,
ruffle, riffle]
6: mix so as to make a random order or arrangement; "shuffle the
cards" [syn: shuffle, ruffle, mix]
7: erect or fluff up; "the bird ruffled its feathers" [syn:
ruffle, fluff]
8: disturb the smoothness of; "ruffle the surface of the water"
[syn: ruffle, ruffle up, rumple, mess up]
9: pleat or gather into a ruffle; "ruffle the curtain fabric"
[syn: ruffle, pleat]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
342 Moby Thesaurus words for "ruffle":
abrade, addle, addle the wits, ado, affect, aggravate, agitate,
agitation, annoy, arouse, badger, bait, ball up, barrage, be at,
beading, beat, beat a ruffle, beat a tattoo, beat the drum,
beat time, beat up, beating, becloud, bedazzle, bedevil, befuddle,
befuddlement, beset, bewilder, bewilderment, binding, bludgeon,
bluster, bordering, bordure, bother, botheration, bristle,
brouhaha, browbeat, brown off, bug, bulldoze, bully, bullyrag,
burn up, bustle, chafe, chaos, chivy, churn, churn up, cloud,
clutter, commotion, confuse, confusion, convulse, corrugate, count,
count the beats, cow, crease, creasing, crimp, crinkle, crisp,
crumple, daze, dazzle, derange, devil, disarrange, disarray,
discombobulate, discombobulation, discomfit, discomfiture,
discompose, discomposure, disconcert, disconcertion, dishevel,
dislocate, disorder, disorganization, disorganize, disorient,
disorientation, disquiet, distemper, disturb, disturbance, dog,
dog-ear, double, double over, doubling, dragoon, drum, drum music,
drumbeat, drumfire, drumming, duplicature, ebullience, ebullition,
eddy, edging, effervescence, electrify, embarrass, embarrassment,
embitter, embroilment, enfold, entangle, erode, exasperate, excite,
exercise, fan, fash, feery-fary, ferment, fermentation, fimbria,
fimbriation, flare, flection, flexure, flounce, flummox, flurry,
fluster, flute, flutter, fog, fold, fold over, frenzy, fret, frill,
frilling, fringe, fuddle, fuddlement, fume, furbelow, fuss, gall,
galloon, gather, gathering, get, go pitapat, graze, gripe, harass,
harry, haze, heckle, hector, hem, hex, hound, huff, hurly-burly,
hurry, hurry-scurry, incense, inflame, infold, interfold,
intimidate, irk, irritate, jar, jolt, jumble, keep time, lap over,
lapel, lappet, list, litter, maze, mess, mess up, miff, misarrange,
mist, mix up, moider, molest, motif, muddle, muddlement, muss,
muss up, nag, needle, nettle, nudzh, paddle, palpitate,
palpitation, paradiddle, patter, peeve, pell-mell, peplum, perplex,
perplexity, persecute, perturb, perturbate, perturbation, pester,
pick on, pique, pitapat, pitter-patter, plague, plait, plat,
play drum, pleat, plica, plicate, plication, plicature,
pluck the beard, ply, pother, pound, pounding, provoke, psych out,
pucker, pulsate, pulsation, put out, quill, raise hell, rankle,
rat-a-tat, rat-tat, rat-tat-tat, rataplan, rattattoo, rattle, ride,
rile, ripple, rock, roil, roll, roughen, rub, rub-a-dub, ruche,
ruching, ruff, rumple, scatter, selvage, set on edge, set up,
shake, shake up, shock, shuffle, skirting, sound a tattoo, spatter,
splatter, splutter, spook, sputter, staccato, stagger, stew, stir,
stir the blood, stir up, strong-arm, sweat, swirl, swirling,
swivet, tangle, tap, tat-tat, tattoo, tease, throb, throbbing,
throw, throw into confusion, thrum, thump, thumping, tizzy, to-do,
tom-tom, torment, tousle, trimming, trouble, try the patience,
tuck, tumult, turbulence, turmoil, turn over, tweak the nose,
twill, unnerve, unsettle, unsettlement, unstring, uproar, upset,
valance, vex, voodoo, vortex, wavelet, wear, welt, whip, whip up,
whirl, whisk, wind, winnow, work up, worry, wrinkle, yeastiness