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Ruff
The ruff (Calidris pugnax) is a medium-sized wading bird that breeds in marshes and wet meadows across northern Eurasia. This highly gregarious sandpiper is migratory and sometimes forms huge flocks in its winter grounds, which include southern and western Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australia.
The ruff is a long-necked, pot-bellied bird. This species shows marked sexual dimorphism; the male is much larger than the female (the reeve), and has a breeding plumage that includes brightly coloured head tufts, bare orange facial skin, extensive black on the breast, and the large collar of ornamental feathers that inspired this bird’s English name. The female and the non-breeding male have grey-brown upperparts and mainly white underparts. Three differently plumaged types of male, including a rare form that mimics the female, use a variety of strategies to obtain mating opportunities at a lek, and the colourful head and neck feathers are erected as part of the elaborate main courting display. The female has one brood per year and lays four eggs in a well-hidden ground nest, incubating the eggs and rearing the chicks, which are mobile soon after hatching, on her own. Predators of wader chicks and eggs include mammals such as foxes, feral cats and stoats, and birds such as large gulls, corvids and skuas.
The ruff forages in wet grassland and soft mud, probing or searching by sight for edible items. It primarily feeds on insects, especially in the breeding season, but it will consume plant material, including rice and maize, on migration and in winter. Classified as “least concern” on the IUCN Red List criteria, the global conservation concerns are relatively low because of the large numbers that breed in Scandinavia and the Arctic. However, the range in much of Europe is contracting because of land drainage, increased fertiliser use, the loss of mown or grazed breeding sites, and over-hunting. This decline has seen it listed in the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA).
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Ruff (noun)
A frill or ruffle on a starched, fluted frill at the neck in Elizabethan and Jacobean England (1560s–1620s).
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Ruff (noun)
Anything formed with plaits or flutings like a frill.
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Ruff (noun)
Senses relating to animals.
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Ruff (noun)
Philomachus pugnax (syn. ver=170921), a gregarious, medium-sized wading bird of Eurasia; specifically, a male of the species which develops a distinctive ruff of feathers and ear tufts during mating season (the female is called a id=bird).
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Ruff (noun)
A set of lengthened or otherwise modified feathers on or around the neck of a bird.
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Ruff (noun)
A collar on a shaft or other piece to prevent endwise motion.
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Ruff (noun)
An exhibition of haughtiness or pride.
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Ruff (noun)
Tumultuous or wanton conduct or procedure.
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Ruff (noun)
alternative spelling of ruffe: a fins; the id=fish.
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Ruff (noun)
ver=170921, a fish found in cool waters off the southern coast of Australia; the Australian herring or tommy ruff.
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Ruff (noun)
A bottom-dwelling carnivorous fish of the family Sparidae found in temperate and tropical waters; a porgy or sea bream.
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Ruff (noun)
An ruffing, or an opportunity to ruff, when unable to follow suit. late 16th c.
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Ruff (noun)
A game similar to whist and its predecessor. late 16th c.
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Ruff (noun)
A low, vibrating beat of a drum, quieter than a roll; a ruffle.
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Ruff (verb)
To shape (fabric, etc.) into a ruff; to adorn (a garment, etc.) with a ruff.
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Ruff (verb)
Of a hit (the prey) without fixing or grabbing hold of it.
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Ruff (verb)
To ruffle; to disorder.
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Ruff (verb)
Of a bird: to ruffle its feathers.
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Ruff (verb)
To boast, to brag.
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Ruff (verb)
To domineering manner; to bluster, to swagger.
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Ruff (verb)
To play a trick when unable to card of the same suit as the previous or leading card). late 16th c.
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Ruff (verb)
Especially in the form ruff out: to defeat (a card, etc.) by ruffing, thus master card in the suit led.
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Ruff (verb)
To beat a ruff or ruffle, as on a drum.
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Ruff (verb)
Of a drum, etc.: to have a ruff or ruffle beaten on it.
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Ruff (interjection)
The bark of a dog; arf, woof.
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Rough (adjective)
Having a texture that has much friction. Not smooth; uneven.
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Rough (adjective)
Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished.
“a rough estimate; a rough sketch of a building; a rough plan”
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Rough (adjective)
Turbulent.
“The sea was rough.”
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Rough (adjective)
Difficult; trying.
“Being a teenager nowadays can be rough.”
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Rough (adjective)
Crude; unrefined
“His manners are a bit rough, but he means well.”
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Rough (adjective)
Violent; not careful or subtle
“This box has been through some rough handling.”
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Rough (adjective)
Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating.
“a rough tone; a rough voice”
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Rough (adjective)
Not polished; uncut; said of a gem.
“a rough diamond”
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Rough (adjective)
Harsh-tasting.
“rough wine”
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Rough (adjective)
Somewhat ill; sick
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Rough (adjective)
Unwell due to alcohol; hungover
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Rough (noun)
The unmowed part of a golf course.
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Rough (noun)
A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy.
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Rough (noun)
A scuffed and roughened area of the pitch, where the bowler’s feet fall, used as a target by spin bowlers because of its unpredictable bounce.
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Rough (noun)
The raw material from which faceted or cabochon gems are created.
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Rough (noun)
A quick sketch, similar to a thumbnail, but larger and more detailed. Meant for artistic brainstorming and a vital step in the design process.
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Rough (noun)
Boisterous weather.
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Rough (verb)
To create in an approximate form.
“Rough in the shape first, then polish the details.”
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Rough (verb)
To commit the offense of roughing, i.e. to punch another player.
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Rough (verb)
To render rough; to roughen.
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Rough (verb)
To break in (a horse, etc.), especially for military purposes.
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Rough (verb)
To endure primitive conditions.
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Rough (adverb)
In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.
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Ruff (noun)
a projecting starched frill worn round the neck, characteristic of Elizabethan and Jacobean costume
“an Elizabethan ruff”
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Ruff (noun)
a projecting or conspicuously coloured ring of feathers or hair round the neck of a bird or mammal
“my nape stirred like the ruff of a dog in a thunderstorm”
“a ruff of long pointed feathers”
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Ruff (noun)
a pigeon of a domestic breed with a ruff of feathers on its neck.
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Ruff (noun)
a North Eurasian wading bird, the male of which has a large variously coloured ruff and ear tufts in the breeding season, used in display.
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Ruff (noun)
an edible marine fish of Australian inshore waters that is related to the Australian salmon.
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Ruff (noun)
variant spelling of ruffe
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Ruff (noun)
an act of ruffing or opportunity to ruff
“he gave his partner a spade ruff”
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Ruff (noun)
one of the basic patterns (rudiments) of drumming, consisting of a single note preceded by either two grace notes played with the other stick (double-stroke ruff or drag) or three grace notes played with alternating sticks (four-stroke ruff).
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Ruff (verb)
(in bridge, whist, and similar card games) play a trump in a trick which was led in a different suit
“declarer ruffed and then led a heart”
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Ruff (verb)
play a trump on (a card in another suit)
“South ruffs a low spade”
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Rough (adjective)
having an uneven or irregular surface; not smooth or level
“her skin felt dry and rough”
“they had to carry the victim across the rough, stony ground”
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Rough (adjective)
denoting the face of a tennis or squash racket on which the loops formed from the stringing process project (used as a call when the racket is spun to decide the right to serve first or to choose ends).
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Rough (adjective)
(of a person or their behaviour) not gentle; violent or boisterous
“pushchairs should be capable of withstanding rough treatment”
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Rough (adjective)
(of an area or occasion) characterized by violent behaviour
“the workmen hate going to the rough estates”
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Rough (adjective)
(of weather or the sea) wild and stormy
“the lifeboat crew braved rough seas to rescue a couple”
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Rough (adjective)
not finished tidily or decoratively; plain and basic
“the customers sat at rough wooden tables”
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Rough (adjective)
put together as a temporary measure; makeshift
“he had one arm in a rough sling”
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Rough (adjective)
lacking sophistication or refinement
“she took care of him in her rough, kindly way”
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Rough (adjective)
not fully worked out or including every detail
“he had a rough draft of his new novel”
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Rough (adjective)
(of stationery) used for making preliminary notes
“rough paper”
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Rough (adjective)
(of a voice) harsh and rasping
“his voice was rough with barely suppressed fury”
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Rough (adjective)
(of wine or another alcoholic drink) sharp or harsh in taste
“he refilled the mug with rough cider”
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Rough (adjective)
not exact or precise; approximate
“it’ll cost about £50, at a rough guess”
“they had a rough idea of when the murder took place”
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Rough (adjective)
difficult and unpleasant or unfair
“the first day of a job is rough on everyone”
“the teachers gave me a rough time because my image didn’t fit”
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Rough (adjective)
unwell
“the altitude had hit her and she was feeling rough”
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Rough (adverb)
in a manner that lacks gentleness; harshly or violently
“treat ’em rough but treat ’em fair”
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Rough (noun)
a disreputable and violent person
“the rear of the column was attacked by roughs”
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Rough (noun)
(on a golf course) longer grass around the fairway and the green
“his second shot lay in the rough”
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Rough (noun)
a preliminary sketch
“I did a rough to work out the scale of the lettering”
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Rough (noun)
an uncut precious stone
“miners discovered one of the biggest diamond roughs in history”
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Rough (verb)
work or shape (something) in a rough, preliminary fashion
“flat surfaces of wood are roughed down”
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Rough (verb)
produce a preliminary and unfinished version of something
“the engineer roughed out a diagram on his notepad”
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Rough (verb)
make uneven
“rough up the icing with a palette knife”
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Rough (verb)
live in discomfort with only basic necessities
“she’d had to rough it alone in digs”