Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A crafty stratagem; a subterfuge. See Synonyms at wile.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To fall.
- To slide down a declivity with a rustling noise.
- To give way; fall back; retreat; use tricks for the purpose of escaping.
- n. The use of artifice or trickery; also, a stratagem.
- n. Synonyms Manœuver, Trick, etc. See artifice and stratagem.
- A Middle English or dialectal form of roose. Cath. Ang.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An artifice; trick; stratagem; wile; fraud; deceit.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a deceptive maneuver (especially to avoid capture)
Etymologies
- Middle English, detour, dodging, from Old French, from ruser, to drive back; see rush1.
Examples
“David Leathley pretended to be Joel Bennathan QC in what he described as a "ruse of war" to prove his accuser was lying.”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
“While this ruse is unfolding, the worm separately uses the victim's machine to fill out a new account application.”
“After the ruse is revealed, the real people had to sign waivers to be in the ads.”
“Out of state energy companies are falsely portraying increased environmental protection as a threat to economic prosperity, and their ruse is being expressed in the form of an initiative on the state's November ballot.”
“It's just another ruse from the Government to make the public feel dependent on them - Labour's client state in a nutshell.”
“But yes, the 'we've made it simpler!' ruse is a favourite of the banks too.”
“But the fact that the mom INSTIGATED the MySpace ruse is evidence enough that she has no empathy whatsoever.”
“The ruse is that since only God knows the human heart, then this group/individual can claim to be Christian.”
“Now that my ruse is up, I can go back to curling my hair, painting my nails, and doing a whole buncha generically girly things!”
“The reinterpretation of child's play as a sinister ruse is most pronounced in the story of Adam of Bristol.”
A Tender Age: Cultural Anxieties over the Child in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ruse’.
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
-
Especially
Being a list of words which have "especially" in their definitions.
wringing-machine, especially, device, field, scrip, hit, catch, take, buck, flip, effluvium, proselyte and 100 more...
-
Them's Fighting Words
annihilate, clandestine, conflagration, enmity, feral, furtive, impede, intrepid, pacify, pugnacious, ruse, stratagem and 5 more...
janusz_chorzepa a subterfuge
trick Jul 11, 2009