ruffle 1. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

ruffle¹

SYLLABICATION:	ruf·fle
PRONUNCIATION:	rfl
NOUN:	1. A strip of frilled or closely pleated fabric used for trimming or decoration. 2. A ruff on a bird. 3a. A ruckus or fray. b. Annoyance; vexation. 4. An irregularity or a slight disturbance of a surface.
VERB:	Inflected forms: ruf·fled, ruf·fling, ruf·fles
TRANSITIVE VERB:	1. To disturb the smoothness or regularity of; ripple. 2. To pleat or gather (fabric) into a ruffle. 3. To erect (the feathers). Used of birds. 4. To discompose; fluster: a book that is bound to ruffle some people. 5. To flip through (the pages of a book). 6. To shuffle (cards).
INTRANSITIVE VERB:	1. To become irregular or rough. 2. To flutter. 3. To become flustered.
ETYMOLOGY:	From Middle English ruffelen, to roughen.


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.