rough

Definitions

1. 1.Hence, figuratively, lacking refinement, gentleness, or polish. Specifically: (a) Not courteous or kind; harsh; rude; uncivil; as, a rough temper. A fiend, a fury, pitiless and rough. Shak. A surly boatman, rough as wayes or winds. Prior. (b) Marked by severity or violence; harsh; hard; as, rough measures or actions. On the rough edge of battle. Milton. A quicker and rougher remedy. Clarendon. Kind words prevent a good deal of that perverseness which rough and imperious usage often produces. Locke. (c) Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating; -- said of sound, voice, and the like; as, a rough tone; rough numbers. Pope. (d) Austere; harsh to the taste; as, rough wine. (e) Tempestuous; boisterous; stormy; as, rough weather; a rough day. He stayeth his rough wind. Isa. xxvii.
2. 2.Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. Shak. (f) Hastily or carelessly done; wanting finish; incomplete; as, a rough estimate; a rough draught. Rough diamond, an uncut diamond; hence, colloquially, a person of intrinsic worth under a rude exterior. -- Rough and ready. (a) Acting with offhand promptness and efficiency. "The rough and ready understanding." Lowell. (b) Produced offhand. "Some rough and ready theory." Tylor.
3. 3.Boisterous weather. [Obs.] Fletcher.
4. 4.A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy. In the rough, in an unwrought or rude condition; unpolished; as, a diamond or a sketch in the rough. Contemplating the people in the rough. Mrs. Browning.
5. 5.In a rough manner; rudely; roughly. Sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats. Sir W. Scott.
6. 6.To render rough; to roughen.
7. 7.To break in, as a horse, especially for military purposes. Crabb.
8. 8.To cut or make in a hasty, rough manner; -- with out; as, to rough out a carving, a sketch. Roughing rolls, rolls for reducing, in a rough manner, a bloom of iron to bars. -- To rough it, to endure hard conditions of living; to live without ordinary comforts.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "rough" mean?
• What is another word for "rough"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is rough.

• What is a rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy. In the rough, in an unwrought or rude condition; unpolished; as, a diamond or a sketch in the rough. Contemplating the people in the rough. Mrs. Browning called?
• What is in a rough manner; rudely; roughly. Sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats. Sir W. Scott called?
• What is to break in, as a horse, especially for military purposes. Crabb called?