rufflier

Variant of ruffle

transitive verb ruffled, ruffling

  1. to take away the smoothness of; wrinkle; ripple: wind ruffling the water
  2. to gather into ruffles
  3. to put ruffles on as trimming
  4. to make (feathers, etc.) stand up in or as in a ruff, as a bird when frightened
  5. to disturb, irritate, or annoy
  6. to turn over (the pages of a book, etc.) rapidly

Origin: ME ruffelen < ON or MLowG, as in LowG, ON hrufla, to scratch

intransitive verb

  1. to become uneven, wrinkled, etc.
  2. to become disturbed, irritated, etc.

noun

  1. a strip of cloth, lace, etc., gathered in pleats and puckers and used for trimming
  2. something like this, as a bird's ruff
  3. a disturbance; irritation
  4. a break in surface smoothness; ripple

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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