ruffle

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“
The edges of the parachute ruffle, and then it blossoms out like an opening flower.

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Definitions (46)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (17)

  1. noun A strip of frilled or closely pleated fabric used for trimming or decoration.
  2. noun A ruff on a bird.
  3. noun A ruckus or fray.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (14)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • It is a sweet face which bends over the work, and it is framed in the daintiest of white caps edged with a wide ruffle which is turned back over the hair above the forehead, that it may not shade her eyes. —  Jean Francois Millet
  • At his neck he wore the ruffle, and the stark contrast of the stylish bit of foppery topping his rough country garb sent the assembly into an uproar of laughter. —  Three Roads to Alamo
  • She wore a short-waisted jacket with a short skirt attached and a voluminous lace ruffle, a curly wig too long for a man and too short for a woman, upon which sat jauntily a Faust-like hat with a long, sweeping plume. —  In the Courts of Memory 1858-1875
  • Sarah Brown, in a ruffle-fronted navy dress by hedge funder turned designer Britt Lintner with gun-metal grey opaque tights and patent heels, both also on trend, looked overly cautious in comparison. —  Latest News Breaking News and Current News from the UK and World Telegraph
  • Thankfully the eveningwear didn't shout as loudly as the daywear: he could have gone all Joan Collins ruffle-tastic or Dynasty super-bling on us, but he didn't. —  Top stories from Times Online
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Used in the same contextWord Family

ruffle:   ruffled ·  ruffles
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (8)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. From Middle English ruffelen, to roughen.
  2. Probably from frequentative of ruff4.
  3. Middle English ruffelen, to quarrel.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. from Middle Dutch ruyffel, wrinkle, a ruffle, from ruyffelen, wrinkle, rumple, ruffle: see ruffle, v. Cf. ruff, n.
  2. from Middle English ruffelen, be quarrelsome, from Middle Dutch roffelen = Low German ruffeln = German dial. ruffeln, pander, pimp; freq. of Middle Dutch roffen, pander; cf. ruffian. In some senses this verb is confused with fig. uses of ruffle.
  3. from ruffle, v.
  4. Also ruff; origin uncertain; cf. Portuguese rufla, rufo, the roll of a drum.
  5. See ruffle, n.
 

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/ˈrəfl/
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