ruff 
His upper garment is of cloth of golde, . . . thesleeues 
thereof very long, which he weareth on his arme, ruffed 
vp. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 814. 
2f. To ruffle ; disorder. 
Thenceforth the fether in her lofty crest, 
Ruffed of love, can lowly to availe. 
Spenser, F. Q.,III.ii. 27. 
3. In falconry, to hit without trussing. /-'. 
Phillips, 1706. 4. To applaud by making a 
noise with hands or feet. [Scotch.] 
ruff 2 (ruf), n. [Formerly also ruffe; said to be 
< ruff 1 , ., and so named because the male has 
a ruff round its neck in the breeding season ; 
but this is doubtful. The female is called a 
reeve, a name supposed to be formed from ruff 
by some change left unexplained, but prob. 
from a different source.] The bird Pavoncel- 
la or Machcfrx pnanax (the female of which is 
Ruff (ravoHCetla or Mactlttes pttpttax). 
called a reeve), a kind of sandpiper belonging 
to the family Scolopacidse, having in breed- 
ing-plumage an enormous frill or ruff of fea- 
thers of peculiar texture on the neck, and noted 
for its pugnacity. It is widely distributed in the Old 
World, and occurs as a straggler in America. The length 
is about 12 inches. Besides the curious ruff, the bird has 
at the same season a pair of ear-tufts and the face studded 
with fleshy tubercles. The general plumage is much 
variegated, and the feathers of the ruff sport in several 
colors and endlessly varied patterns. When these feathers 
are erected iu fighting, they form a sort of shield or buck- 
ler. Also called combatant and fighting sandpiper. 
It has often been said that no one ever saw two Buff 
alike. This is perhaps an over-statement ; but . . . fifty 
examples or more may be compared without finding a very 
close resemblance between any two of them. 
A. Xewton, Encyc. Brit,, XXI. 54. 
ruff 3 (ruf), n. [< ME. ruffe, a fish, glossed by 
L. sparrus for sparus: origin obscure.] Ace- 
rina or Gymnocephalus cernua, a fish of the fam- 
ily Percidse, distinguished by the muciferous 
channels of the head, the villiform teeth of the 
jaws, and the connected dorsal fins. It is a fresh- 
water flsh of Europe, living in families or schools, and 
mostly frequenting rather deep and cold waters. In 
habits and food it much resembles the common perch. 
There is also another flsh called a Pope, and by some a 
Ruffe, a flsh that is not known to be in some Rivers ; it is 
much like the Pearch for his shape, but will not grow to 
be bigger than a Oudgion; he is an excellent flsh, no fish 
that swims is of a pleasanter taste. 
/. Walton, Compleat Angler (ed. 1653), xi. 
ruff 4 (ruf), . [Prob. accom. < It. ronfa, "a 
game at cardes called ruffe or trump " (Florio) 
(whence also F. ronfle, "hand-rnff, at cards" 
Cotgrave); prob. a reduced form of trionfo 
" a trump at cards, or the play called trump or 
ruff" (Florio): see trmnjft. The Pg. rufa, rifa, 
a set of cards of the same color, a sequence, is 
perhaps < E.] 1. An old game at cards, the 
predecessor of whist. 
And to confounde all, to amende their badde games, hav- 
ing never a good carde in their handes, and leaving the 
ancient game of England (Trumpe), where every coate and 
sute are sorted in their degree, are running to Ruffe, where 
the greatest sorte of the sute carrieth away the game. 
Martins Stontlis tlinde (1589), Ep. to the Reader, quoted in 
[1'eele's Old Wives Tale, note. 
What, shall we have a game at trump or ruff to drive 
away the time? how say you? Peele, Old Wives Tale. 
2. In cartl-pfttuiiif/, the act of trumping when 
the player has no cards of the suit led. 
ruff 4 (ruf), r. t. [< ruff*, .] In rard-playing, 
to trump when holding none of the suit led. 
Also, erroneously, rough. 
.Miss Bolo would inquire . . . why Mr. Pickwick had not 
returned that diamond, or led the club, or roughed the 
spade, or finessed the heart. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxv. 
ruff"'t (ruf), a. and w. [An obs. spelling of 
rniiiili 1 .'} I. a. Same as rough 1 . Palsgrare. 
II. H. A state of roughness; ruggedness; 
hence, rude or riotous procedure or conduct. 
To ruffle it out in a riotous ruff. Latimer. 
As fields set all their bristles np, in such a ru/wert thou. 
Chapman, Iliad. (Imp. Diet.) 
5261 
ruff 6 (ruf). v. t. [A phonetic spelling of rough 1 , 
v. ] 1 . To heckle (flax) on a coarse heckle called 
a ruffer. 
The ruffed work is taken to the tool called a "common 
8," the pins of which are much closer placed than those 
of the ruffer, and are only 4 or 5 inches long. 
Ure, Diet,, II. 421. 
2. In hat-manuf., to nap. 
The known impossibility of napping or ruffing a hat by 
any means with machinery. 
J. Thomson, Hats and Felting, p. 37. 
ruff fif, . An obsolete form of rouglft. 
ruff 7 (ruf), ii. A low vibrating beat of a drum ; 
a ruffle. See ruffle 3 . 
The drum beats a ruff, and so to bed ; that 's all, the 
ceremony is concise. Farquhar, Recruiting Officer, v. 2. 
ruff 8 , n. A dialectal form of roof 1 . 
ruff-band (ruf'band), n. Same as ruff 1 , 1. 
What raadnesse did possesse you ? did you thinke that 
none but citizens were marked for death, that onely a 
blackeorcivill suit of apparell, with a ruffe-band, was onely 
the plagues livery? John Taylor, Works (1630). (Nares.) 
ruff-cuff (ruf'kuf), n. A ruffle for the wrist. 
niffet, >' An obsolete form of rouqhie*. 
ruffed 1 (ruft), n. [< ruff 1 + -erf 2 .] I n zdol. , hav- 
ing a ruff or ruffle : as, the ruffed grouse. See 
ruff 1 , 2 (it), (b) Ruffed grouse, Bonasa umbellus, a 
common gallinaceous game-bird of North America, nearly 
related to the hazel-grouse of Europe (B. betulina), called 
partridge in the northern and pheasant in the middle and 
southern United States, having a pair of ruffs, one on each 
side of the neck. This grouse, either in its typical form or 
in some of its varieties, inhabits nearly all the woodland 
of North America. It ranks high as a game-bird ; the flesh 
of the breast is white when cooked, like the bobwhite's. 
The head has a full soft crest ; each ruft* is composed of 
from fifteen to thirty broad soft feathers, glossy-black 
in the adult male, overlying a rudimentary tympanum. 
The wings are short and rounded ; the tail is long, fan- 
shaped, normally of eighteen broad soft feathers ; the tarsi 
are partly feathered, partly scaly. The plumage is intimate- 
ly varied with brown, gray, and other shades ; it is nearly 
alike in both sexes. This grouse is 17 inches long, and 23 
in extent, the wings and tail from 7 to 8 inches each. It 
lays creamy or buff eggs, usually immaculate, sometimes 
speckled, 1$ inches long by l\ broad, of pjriform shape. 
The characteristic drumming sound for which this bird is 
noted is not vocal, but is produced by rapidly beating the 
wings. See grouse, pheasant, partridge, and quails for other 
names, and cut under Bonasa. Ruffed lemur, the black 
and white lemur, Lemur varius. See cut under lemur. 
Ruffed mouflon. Same as aoudad. 
ruffed 2 (ruft), p. a. [Pp. of ntffS, v.] Heckled 
on a ruffer. 
ruffent, n. An obsolete form of ruffian. 
ruffer (ruf 'er), n. [< ruff* + -er 1 .] A coarse 
heckle, formed of a board sheathed with tin 
plate, and studded with round and pointed 
teeth about 7 inches long. Compare heckle, n. 
and v. t. 
The teeth or needles of the rougher or ruffer heckle. 
Encyc. Brit., XIV. 665. 
ruffian (ruf'ian), H. and a. [Early mod. E. also 
rufyan, ruffen, ruffin ; = MD. ruffiaen, roffiaen, < 
OF. ruffian, ruffien, ruf en, F. rufien = Wall. 
rouffian = Pr. rufian, rofian = Sp. rufian = Pg. 
ruf So = It. ruffiano, Olt. roffirtiio (ML. riiffin- 
iius), a pander, bully, ruffian; with Rom. suffix, 
< OD. roffeti, roffelcn = LG. ruffeln, a pander; 
of. LG. ruffeler, a pander, intrigant, = Dan. 
ruffer, a pander (see ruffler 2 ) : see ruffle?. Cf . 
riiffG, rough' 2 .'} I. H. If. A pimp; a pander: 
a paramour. 
He [her husband) is no sooner abroad than she is in- 
stantly at home, revelling with her ruffians. 
Reynolds, God's Revenge against Mnrther, iii. 11. 
2. A boisterous, brutal fellow; a fellow ready 
for any desperate crime; a robber; a cutthroat; 
a murderer. 
Have you a ruffian that will swear, drink, dance, 
Revel the night, rob, murder? 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iv. 5. 125. 
See that your polish'd arms be primed with care, 
And drop the night-bolt ; ruffians are abroad. 
Cowper, Task. iv. 568. 
3f. The devil. [Old slang.] 
The ruffian cly thee, the devil take thee ! 
Ilarman, Caveat for Cursetors, p. 116. 
II. . It- Licentious; lascivious; wanton. 
How dearly would it touch thee to the quick, 
Shouldpt thou but hear I were licentious, 
And that this body, consecrate to thee, 
By ruffian lust should be contaminate : 
Shale., C. of B., ii. 2. 135. 
2. Lawless and cruel ; brutal; murderous; in- 
human; villainous. 
The chief of a rebellious clan, 
Who in the Regent's court and sight 
With ruffian dagger stabbed a knight. 
Scott, L. of the L., v. 5. 
3. Violent ; tumultuous ; stormy. 
In the visitation of the winds, 
Who take the ruffian billows by the top. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iii. 1. 22. 
ruffle 
So may no ru/Ran-feeling in thy breast 
Discordant jar thy bosom-chords among. 
Burns, To Miss Graham of Fintry. 
ruffian (ruf'ian), v. i. [= It. ruffianare, Olt. 
roffianare = Pg. rtifiar Sp. rufianar, act as a 
pander or ruffian; from the noun.] To play 
the ruffian ; rage ; raise tumult. 
Eschewe disobedience and sedicious assembling, repent 
of light rufftanyntj and blasphemous carnal gospelliug. 
Udal, Peter (John Olde to the Duchesse of Somerset). 
[(Richardson.) 
If it [the wind] hath ruffian'd so upon the sea, 
What ribs of oak, when mountains melt on them, 
Can hold the mortise? Shale., Othello, ii. 1. 7. 
ruffianage (ruf'ian-aj), n. [< ruffian + -age.} 
The state of being a ruffian; rascaldom; ruf- 
fians collectively. 
Kufus never moved unless escorted by the vilest ruffian- 
age. Sir F. Palgrave. 
Driven from their homes by organized ruffianage. 
The American, XIII. 244. 
ruffianhood (ruf 'ian-hud), H. [< ruffian + -hood.} 
Ruffianage ; ruffianism. Literary Era, II. 148. 
ruffianish (ruf'ian-ish), a. [< ruffian + -ish 1 .] 
Having the qualities or manners of a ruffian, 
ruffianism (ruf 'ian-izm), n. [< ruffian + -ism.} 
The character, Habits, or manners of ruffians. 
Sir J. Mackintosh. 
The lasagnone is a loafer, as an Italian can be a loafer, 
without the admixture of ruffianism which blemishes 
most loafers of northern race. Hmcells, Venetian Life, xx. 
ruffianly (ruf 'ian-li), a. [< ruffian + -ly 1 .] 1. 
Having the character of a ruffian ; bold in crime ; 
brutal; violent; rough. 
The ruffianly Tarter, who, sullen and impracticable to 
others, acquired a singular partiality for him. 
C. Bronte, Shirley, xxvi. 
2. Characteristic of or befitting a ruffian, (at) 
Lascivious ; wanton ; unseemly. 
Who in London hath not heard of his [Greene's] disso- 
lute and licentious living ; his fond disguising of a Master 
of Art with ruffianly hair, unseemly apparel, and more un- 
seemly company ? G. Harvey, Four Letters. 
.Some frenchifled or outlandish monsieur, who hath no- 
thing else to make him famous, I should say infamous, 
but an effeminate, ruffianly, ugly, and deformed lock. 
Prynne, Unloveliness of Love-Locks, p. 27. (Trench.) 
(ft) Villainous; depraved: as, ruffianly conduct; ruffianly 
crimes. 
ruffing, n. and a. An obsolete form of ruffian. 
ruffin 2 t (ruf 'in), n. [< ruff 8 + dim. -in.'} Same 
as ruff 3 . [Rare.] 
Him followed Yar, soft washing Norwitch wall, 
And with him brought a present joyfully 
Of his owne fish unto their festivall, 
Whose like none else could shew, the which they Ruffins 
call. Spenser, F. Q., IV. xi. 83. 
ruffing (ruf'ing), it. [Verbal n. of ruff 6 ,v.~\ In 
liat-maiivf., same as napping. 
ruffinoust (ruf'i-nus), a. [< ruffin 1 + -ous.] 
Ruffianly; outrageous. 
To shelter the sad monument from all the ruffinous pride 
Of stormes and tempests. Chapman, Iliad, vi. 456. 
ruffle 1 (ruf'l), v. ; pret. and pp. ruffled, ppr. 
ruffling. [Early mod. E. ruffle, < ME. ruffelen, 
< MD. ruyffclen, D. ruifelen, wrinkle, rumple, 
ruffle; cf. ruyffel, a wrinkle, ruffle. Ct. ruff 1 .] 
1. trans. 1. To wrinkle; pucker; draw up into 
gathers, folds, or plaits. 
I ruffle clothe or sylked, I bring them out of their playne 
foldynge, Je plionne. Palsgrave, p. 695. 
2. To disorder; disturb the arrangement of; 
rumple; derange; disarrange; make uneven 
by agitation : as, ruffled attire ; ruffled hair. 
Where Contemplation prunes her ruffled wings. 
Pope, Satires of Donne, iv. 1S6. 
Thou wilt not gash thy flesh for him ; for thine 
Fares richly, in fine linen, not a hair 
Ruffled upon the scarfskin. 
Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. 
3. To disturb the surface of; cause to ripple 
or rise in waves. 
The Lake of Nemi lies in a very deep bottom, so sur- 
rounded on all sides with mountains and groves that the 
surface of it is never ruffled with the least breath of wind. 
Addison, Remarks on Italy (Works, ed. Bohn, I. 485). 
As the sharp wind that ruffles all day long 
A little bitter pool about a stone 
On the bare coast. Tennyson, Guinevere. 
4f. To throw together in a disorderly manner. 
I ruffled up fall'n leaves in heap. 
Chapman, Odyssey, vii. 396. 
5. To disquiet ; discompose ; agitate ; dis- 
turb; annoy; vex: as, to ruffle the spirits or 
the temper. 
Business must necessarily subject them to many neglects 
and contempts, which might disturb and ruffle their 
minds. Bacon, Moral Fables, iii., Expl. 
Lord Granby's temper had been a little ruffled the night 
before. Walpote, Letters, II. 214. 
