What does "ruffle" mean?
Ruffle: To furnish with ruffles; as, to ruffle a shirt.
Additional senses
- 2.To oughen or disturb the surface of; to make uneven by agitation or commotion. The fantastic revelries . . . that so often ruffled the placid bosom of the Nile. I. Taylor. She smoothed the ruffled seas. Dryden.
- 3.To erect in a ruff, as feathers. [the swan] ruffles her pure cold plume. Tennyson.
- 4.(Mil.) To beat with the ruff or ruffle, as a drum.
- 5.To discompose; to agitate; to disturb. These ruffle the tranquillity of the mind. Sir W. Hamilton. But, ever after, the small violence done Rankled in him and ruffled all his heart. Tennyson.
- 6.To throw into disorder or confusion. Where best He might the ruffled foe infest. Hudibras.
- 7.To throw together in a disorderly manner. [R.] I ruffled up falen leaves in heap. Chapman To ruffle the feathers of, to exite the resentment of; to irritate.
- 8.To grow rough, boisterous, or turbulent. [R.] The night comes on, and the bleak winds Do sorely ruffle. Shak.
- 9.To become disordered; to play loosely; to flutter. On his right shoulder his thick mane reclined, Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind. Dryden.
- 10.To be rough; to jar; to be in contention; hence, to put on airs; to swagger. They would ruffle with jurors. Bacon. Gallants who ruffled in silk and embroidery. Sir W. Scott.
- 11.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.
- 12.A state of being ruffled or disturbed; disturbance; agitation; commotion; as, to put the mind in a ruffle.
- 13.(Mil.) A low, vibrating beat of a drum, not so loud as a roll; -- called also ruff. H. L. Scott.
- 14.(Zoöl.) The connected series of large egg capsules, or oöthecæ, of any one of several species of American marine gastropods of the genus Fulgur. See Oötheca. Ruffle of a boot, the top turned down, and scalloped or plaited. Halliwell.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00