Ruck

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ɹʌk/
• Rhymes: -ÊŒk

Middle English ruke

Full definition of ruck

Noun

1. A throng or crowd of people or things; a mass, a pack. from 16th c.
• 1873, Anthony Trollope, Phineas Redux, Chapter 16:Dandolo was constantly in the ditch, sometimes lying with his side against the bank, and had now been so hustled and driven that, had he been on the other side, he would have had no breath left to carry his rider, even in the ruck of the hunt.
• 1914, Booth Tarkington, Penrod, Chapter 23:At last, out of the ruck rose Verman, disfigured and maniacal. With a wild eye he looked about him for his trusty rake; but Penrod, in horror, had long since thrown the rake out into the yard.
2. (Australian Rules Football) Contesting a bounce or ball up; used appositionally in "ruck contest". Rucks also used collectively either of ruckmen or of ruckmen and ruck rovers, and occasionally used in place of "followers" (including rovers too). from 19th c.
3. (rugby union) The situation formed when a runner is brought to ground and one or more members of each side are engaged above the ball, trying to win possession of it; a loose scrum. from 20th c.
4. The common mass of people or things; the ordinary ranks. from 19th c.
• 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd:"He is well born." "His being higher in learning and birth than the ruck o' soldiers is anything but a proof of his worth. It shows his course to be down'ard."
• 1911, Saki, ‘Tobermory’, The Chronicles of Clovis:‘Here and there among cats one comes across an outstanding superior intellect, just as one does among the ruck of human beings ....’

Verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To act as a ruckman in a stoppage in Australian Rules football.

1780, from Old Norse hrukka ("wrinkle, crease"), from Proto-Germanic *hrunkijō, *hrunkitō ("fold, wrinkle"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ("to turn, bend"). Akin to Icelandic hrukka ("wrinkle, crease, ruck"), Old High German runza ("fold, wrinkle, crease"), German Runzel ("wrinkle"), Middle Dutch ronse ("frown"). More at frounce.

Verb

1. (transitive) To crease or fold.
2. (intransitive) To become folded.
• 1917 "Will you come over now and try on your dress?" Ally asked, looking at her with wistful admiration. "I want to be sure the sleeves don't ruck up the same as they did yesterday." — Edith Wharton, Summer, Chapter 12.

Noun

1. A crease, a wrinkle, a pucker, as on fabric.

Compare Danish ruge ("to brood, to hatch").

Verb

1. (UK, dialect, obsolete) To cower or huddle together; to squat; to sit, as a hen on eggs.

Noun

1. Obsolete form of roc