ruffle

ruf·fle ¹

 (rŭf′əl)

n.

1. A strip of frilled or closely pleated fabric used for trimming or decoration.

2. A ruff on a bird.

3. An irregularity or a slight disturbance of a surface: the ruffle on the lake.

4. A beating or rustling sound: the ruffle of drums in the distance; the ruffle of a skirt on the floor.

v. ruf·fled, ruf·fling, ruf·fles

v.tr.

1. To disturb the smoothness or regularity of; ripple: The wind ruffled the water.

2.

a. To pleat or gather (fabric) into a ruffle.

b. To put a ruffle on (a garment, for example).

3. To erect (the feathers). Used of birds.

4. To discompose or annoy; fluster: a book that is bound to ruffle some people.

5. To flip through (the pages of a book).

6. To shuffle (cards).

v.intr.

1. To become irregular or rough: His hair ruffled in the wind.

2. To become annoyed or flustered: What teacher doesn't ruffle when students act up in class?

3.

a. To flip through the pages of a book: ruffled through the book until I found the picture.

b. To search for something in a container: ruffled in her bag looking for the keys.

4. To make a beating or rustling sound.

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[From Middle English ruffelen, to roughen.]

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ruf·fle ²

 (rŭf′əl)

n.

A low continuous beating of a drum that is not as loud as a roll. Also called ruff⁴.

tr.v. ruf·fled, ruf·fling, ruf·fles

To beat a ruffle on (a drum).

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[Probably from frequentative of ruff.]

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ruf·fle ³

 (rŭf′əl)

intr.v. ruf·fled, ruf·fling, ruf·fles

Obsolete To behave arrogantly or roughly; swagger.

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[Middle English ruffelen, to quarrel.]

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ruf′fler n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ruffle

(ˈrʌfəl)

vb

1. to make, be, or become irregular or rumpled: to ruffle a child's hair; a breeze ruffling the water.

2. to annoy, irritate, or be annoyed or irritated

3. (Knitting & Sewing) (tr) to make into a ruffle; pleat

4. (Zoology) (of a bird) to erect (its feathers) in anger, display, etc

5. (tr) to flick (cards, pages, etc) rapidly with the fingers

n

6. an irregular or disturbed surface

7. (Knitting & Sewing) a strip of pleated material used for decoration or as a trim

8. (Zoology) zoology another name for ruff¹²

9. annoyance or irritation

[C13: of Germanic origin; compare Middle Low German ruffelen to crumple, Old Norse hrufla to scratch]

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ruffle

(ˈrʌfəl)

n

(Music, other) a low continuous drumbeat

vb

(Music, other) (tr) to beat (a drum) with a low repetitive beat

[C18: from earlier ruff, of imitative origin]

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ruffle

(ˈrʌfəl)

vb

(intr) archaic to behave riotously or arrogantly; swagger

[C15: of obscure origin]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ruf•fle¹

(ˈrʌf əl)

v. -fled, -fling,
n. v.t.

1. to destroy the smoothness or evenness of.

2. to erect (the feathers), as a bird in anger.

3. to disturb, vex, or irritate.

4. to turn (pages) rapidly.

5. to pass (cards) through the fingers rapidly in shuffling.

6. to draw up (cloth, lace, etc.) into a ruffle by gathering along one edge.

v.i.

7. to be or become ruffled.

n.

8. a break in the evenness of a surface.

9. a strip of cloth, lace, etc., gathered along one edge; used as a trimming, as on curtains.

10. something resembling this, as the ruff of a bird.

11. disturbance or vexation; irritation.

[1250–1300; ruffelen (v.); c. Low German ruffelen to crumple]

ruf′fly, adj.

ruf•fle²

(ˈrʌf əl)

n., v. -fled, -fling. n.

1. a low, continuous beating of a drum.

v.t.

2. to beat (a drum) in this manner.

[1715–25; archaic ruff in same sense (perhaps imitative) + -le]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

ruffle

Past participle: ruffled
Gerund: ruffling

Imperative

ruffle

ruffle

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	ruffle - a strip of pleated material used as a decoration or a trim flounce, furbelow, frill adornment - a decoration of color or interest that is added to relieve plainness gauffer, goffer - an ornamental frill made by pressing pleats jabot - a ruffle on the front of a woman's blouse or a man's shirt peplum - a flared ruffle attached to the waistline of a dress or jacket or blouse
	2.	ruffle - a high tight collar       neck ruff, ruff, choker collar, neckband - a band that fits around the neck and is usually folded over fraise - a ruff for the neck worn in the 16th century
	3.	ruffle - a noisy fight         fray, affray, disturbance fighting, combat, fight, scrap - the act of fighting; any contest or struggle; "a fight broke out at the hockey game"; "there was fighting in the streets"; "the unhappy couple got into a terrible scrap"
Verb	1.	ruffle - stir up (water) so as to form ripples cockle, ripple, undulate, riffle flow, flux - move or progress freely as if in a stream; "The crowd flowed out of the stadium"
	2.	ruffle - trouble or vex; "ruffle somebody's composure" annoy, devil, gravel, irritate, nark, rile, vex, nettle, rag, bother, chafe, get at, get to - cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations; "Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me"; "It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves"
	3.	ruffle - to walk with a lofty proud gait, often in an attempt to impress others; "He struts around like a rooster in a hen house" prance, strut, swagger, tittup, sashay, cock walk - use one's feet to advance; advance by steps; "Walk, don't run!"; "We walked instead of driving"; "She walks with a slight limp"; "The patient cannot walk yet"; "Walk over to the cabinet"
	4.	ruffle - discompose; "This play is going to ruffle some people"; "She has a way of ruffling feathers among her colleagues" fluster - cause to be nervous or upset
	5.	ruffle - twitch or flutter; "the paper flicked" riffle, flick move, displace - cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense; "Move those boxes into the corner, please"; "I'm moving my money to another bank"; "The director moved more responsibilities onto his new assistant"
	6.	ruffle - mix so as to make a random order or arrangement; "shuffle the cards" shuffle, mix manipulate - hold something in one's hands and move it reshuffle - shuffle again; "So as to prevent cheating, he was asked to reshuffle the cards" riffle - shuffle (playing cards) by separating the deck into two parts and riffling with the thumbs so the cards intermix cut - divide a deck of cards at random into two parts to make selection difficult; "Wayne cut"; "She cut the deck for a long time"
	7.	ruffle - erect or fluff up; "the bird ruffled its feathers" fluff loosen - make less dense; "loosen the soil"
	8.	ruffle - disturb the smoothness of; "ruffle the surface of the water" ruffle up, rumple, mess up disarrange - destroy the arrangement or order of; "My son disarranged the papers on my desk"
	9.	ruffle - pleat or gather into a ruffle; "ruffle the curtain fabric" pleat fold, fold up, turn up - bend or lay so that one part covers the other; "fold up the newspaper"; "turn up your collar"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

ruffle

verb

1. disarrange, disorder, wrinkle, mess up, rumple, tousle, derange, discompose, dishevel She let the wind ruffle her hair. ripple, riffle, roughen, make ripples in The evening breeze ruffled the pond.

2. annoy, worry, trouble, upset, confuse, stir, disturb, rattle (informal), irritate, put out, unsettle, shake up (informal), harass, hassle (informal), agitate, unnerve, disconcert, disquiet, nettle, vex, fluster, perturb, faze, peeve (informal) My refusal to let him ruffle me infuriated him.
annoy ease, comfort, calm, compose, soothe, console, appease, solace, mollify

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

ruffle

verb

1. To impair or destroy the composure of:

agitate, bother, discompose, disquiet, distract, disturb, flurry, fluster, perturb, rock, shake (up), toss, unsettle, upset.

Informal: rattle.

2. To trouble the nerves or peace of mind of, especially by repeated vexations:

aggravate, annoy, bother, bug, chafe, disturb, exasperate, fret, gall, get, irk, irritate, nettle, peeve, provoke, put out, rile, vex.

Idioms: get in one's hair, get on one's nerves, get under one's skin.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

يُزْعِج، يُكَدِّر

načepýřitrozcuchat

pjuske op iruske op i

kräuselnsträuben

ébourifferpréoccupertroubler

ÿfa

arruffarecollettocontendereessere imperturbabilegala

šiauštisutaršytitaršyti

sabužināt

bruse med fjærenerufse opp

волновать

kabartmakkarıştırmak

弄乱

ruffle

[ˈrʌfl]

A. N → arruga f (Sew) → volante m fruncido; (= ripple) → rizo m

B. VT [+ surface of water] → agitar, rizar; [+ hair] → despeinar; [+ feathers] → erizar; [+ fabric] → fruncir; [+ bedclothes] → arrugar
nothing ruffles him → no se altera por nada
she wasn't at all ruffled → no se perturbó en lo más mínimo
to ruffle sb's feathers → herir las susceptibilidades de algn
to smooth sb's ruffled feathers → alisar las plumas erizadas de algn

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ruffle

[ˈrʌf^əl]

vt

[+ hair, feathers] → ébouriffer
to ruffle sb's feathers (= upset) → chiffonner qn

[+ clothes] → chiffonner

[+ water] → faire moutonner

(= unnerve) [+ person] → faire perdre son flegme à

n (on blouse, shirt, round neck) → jabot m; (round cuff) → manchette f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ruffle

n (on dress) → Rüsche f; (on water) → Kräuseln nt no pl

vt

(= disturb) hair, feathers → zerzausen; surface, water → kräuseln; bedspread, clothes → verkrumpeln (inf); the bird ruffled (up) its feathers → der Vogel plusterte sich auf

(fig: = upset, disturb) → aus der Ruhe bringen; (= annoy) → verärgern, aufbringen; to ruffle somebody’s calm → jdn aus der Ruhe bringen; to ruffle somebody’s feathers → jdn aufregen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ruffle

[ˈrʌfl] vt (surface) → (far) increspare; (hair, feathers) → arruffare, scompigliare (fig) (person) → (far) agitare, turbare, (far) innervosire
nothing ruffles him → non si scompone mai

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

ruffle

(ˈrafl) verb

to make wrinkled or uneven, especially hair, feathers etc. The wind ruffled her hair; The bird ruffled its feathers in anger. deurmekaar maak, pof يُزْعِج، يُكَدِّر разрошвам (се) franzir rozcuchat, načepýřit kräuseln, sträuben ruske op i; pjuske op i αναστατώνω, αναταράσσωalborotar, despeinar; encrespar, erizar sassi ajama, turritama موج دار کردن؛ ناصاف کردن یا شدن pörröttää ébouriffer, hérisser לִפרוֹעַ खुरदरा बनाना, क्रोधित करना, शिकन पड़ना, लहरे पैदा करना nabor felborzol mengacak-acak ÿfa arruffare かきみだす 헝클어 놓다 (su)taršyti, (pa)šiaušti sabužināt merenyukkan in de war maken, opzettenrufse opp; bruse med fjærene zmierzwić, nastroszyć موج لرونکی، ناصاف کول یاکیدل arrepiar a ciufuli, a zbârli ерошить postrapatiť; načuchrať razmršiti, nasršiti razbarušiti rufsa till, burra upp ทำให้ไม่เรียบ kabartmak; karıştırmak 弄亂 куйовдити, кошлати درہم برہم کرنا làm xù lên 弄乱

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.