scufflen.1
/ˈskʌf(ə)l/ 1.
a. A scrambling fight; an encounter with much hustling and random exchange of blows; a tussle.Comb. scuffle-royal (nonce-word) after battle-royal.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > a fight
bicker1297
fightc1300
tirpeilc1330
ragea1393
stradec1400
intermell1489
cockfighta1513
skirm1534
bustle1579
pell-mellc1586
brabble1587
jostle1607
scufflea1616
counterbuff1632
mêléea1648
roil1690
tussle1749
scrimmage1780
turn-up1810
scrape1812
pounding match1815
mellay1819
struggle1840
mix-up1841
scrap1846
rough-up1891
turn-to1893
push and shove1895
bagarre1897
stoush1908
dogfight1910
bundle1936
sort-out1937
yike1940
bassa-bassa1956
punch-up1958
thump-up1967
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) i. i. 7 His Captaines heart, Which in the scuffles of great Fights hath burst The Buckles on his brest. View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ ii. xix. 39 There was a scuffle lately here twixt the Duke of Nevers and the Cardinall of Guyse, who..meeting the last week..from words they fell to blows.
1670 R. Baxter Cure Church-div. Pref. sig. B4 I tell you again that a Battel or a Foot-ball skuffle will not settle, the discomposed and divided Churches.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 203 There had been a Scuffle among 'em, in which one of their Canoes was overset.
1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality II. xi. 190 A scramble, boys, a scramble! Hereupon a scuffle royal instantly ensued.
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto II xcii. 165 Just like a black eye in a recent scuffle.
1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 2) IV. xviii. 107 The victor in this struggle, a scuffle rather than a battle, again took possession of the Earldom.
1891 ‘J. S. Winter’ Lumley ii. 10 A friendly scuffle between a fox-terrier pup and a fine black cat.
b. transferred and figurative. Now rare. Formerly often, † a heated controversy.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > [noun] > an act or instance of
flitec1000
strifea1225
wara1300
pulla1400
lakec1420
contenta1450
stour?c1450
contentiona1500
pingle1543
agony1555
feudc1565
combat1567
skirmish1576
grapple1604
counter-scuffle1628
scuffle1641
agon1649
tug1660
tug of war1677
risse1684
struggle1692
palaver1707
hash1789
warsle1792
scrabble1794
set-to1794
go1823
bucklea1849
wrestle1850
tussle1857
head-to-head1884
scrum1905
battleground1931
shoot-out1953
mud-wrestle1986
1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 69 Such poore drifts to make a Nationall Warre of a Surplice Brabble, a Tippet-scuffle.
1662 H. More Antidote Atheism (1712) i. ix. §2. 26 All those changes and varieties we see in the World are but the result of an Eternal Scuffle of coordinate Causes.
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity i. xvi. 320 This pretended Triumvirate is no Supreme Magistracy, but a Political Scuffle or Scamble or transient Shuffle betwixt these three men, Octavius, Antony and Lepidus.
1675 R. Baxter Catholick Theol. i. i. 22 And here the Thomists and Scotists have another skuffle, Whether [etc.].
a1732 T. Boston Memoirs (1776) vii. 114 With the student above referred to, I had sometimes had some scuffles on the Arminian points.
1770 E. Burke Thoughts Present Discontents 74 They were not afraid..that their resolution to stand or fall together should, by placemen, be interpreted into a scuffle for places.
2. The action of scuffling; confused utterance (of speech); shuffling (of feet).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > [noun] > hurried or confused speech
bolting1702
rabble1868
sputtering1884
scuffle1899
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > [noun] > scratching or scraping > of feet
scuffing1883
scuff1899
scuffle1899
1899 B. Capes Lady of Darkness 260 His wry jaw and crippled scuffle of speech.
1905 F. Treves Other Side of Lantern (1906) iv. viii. 290 The scuffle of naked feet upon the stones makes little more sound than the rustle of a snake.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
scufflen.2
/ˈskʌf(ə)l/ 1. = scuffler n.2
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > [noun] > mattock, hoe, or hack > hoe > hoe for between rows of crops
scuffler1794
scuffle1798
Spanish hoe1822
Vernon hoe1855
1798 J. Middleton View Agric. Middlesex v. 96 Every farmer of arable land should possess himself of a scuffle... This implement is used in the same manner as a harrow: its feet cut up the weeds, and, altogether, it pulverizes the soil.
1805 Gen. View Agric. E. Lothian (Board of Agric.) 69 The Horse-hoe or Scuffle..is used more or less in all drill crops.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports i. i. v. §1. 49 Another very considerable proportion was left in rough fallow, undisturbed by the scuffle.
2. A gardener's thrust-hoe. local and U.S.
ΚΠ
1797 S. Deane New-Eng. Farmer (ed. 2) 95/2 Dutch Hoe, sometimes called a Scuffle; an iron instrument, with a sharp steeled edge, nearly in the shape of the letter D.
1825 J. Lorain Nature in Pract. Husb. 191 The scuffle (or D hoe as it is sometimes called) will destroy weeds growing on a level surface.
1841 C. H. Hartshorne Salopia Antiqua 558 Scuffle, a hoe, chiefly used in gardens for cutting up weeds.
1848 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 1st Ser. iii. 33 Where so much is to do in the beds, he were a sorry gardener who should wage a whole day's war with an iron scuffle on those ill weeds that make the garden-walks of life unsightly.
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. Scuffle, a garden implement used for cutting off weeds at the roots,—generally known as a Dutch hoe.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scufflev.1
/ˈskʌf(ə)l/ 1.
a. intransitive. To struggle confusedly together or with another or others; to fight at close quarters in a disorderly manner, with pulling, pushing, and random delivery of blows; to tussle.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > fight [verb (intransitive)]
fightc900
deal993
wraxlec1000
skirm?c1225
makec1275
mellc1300
to fight togethera1400
meddlec1400
match1440
wring1470
cobc1540
toilc1540
strike1579
beat1586
scuffle1590
exchange blows1594
to bang it out or aboutc1600
buffeta1616
tussle1638
dimicate1657
to try a friskin1675
to battle it1821
muss1851
scrap1874
to mix it1905
dogfight1929
yike1940
to go upside (someone's) head1970
1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall sig. B3v Shall we haue neighbors children, lie skufling in the kennel together by the eares like bride well birds?
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. ii. 75 He..rushed amongst the thickest of the Veientians, and skuffled with many of them together.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion xii. 199 I..haue seene in former dayes The best Knights of the world, and scuffled in some frayes.
1622 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Phylaster (new ed.) v. 61 Weele skuffle [1st ed. 1620 reads shufle] hard before he perish.
1743 N. Appleton Several Disc. Romans VIII. xiv 21 They scuffle, and oftentimes quarrel as Children.
1849 A. R. Smith Pottleton Legacy ix. 64 The field-mice..scuffled amongst the corn.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxxix. 255 Only groans, and people scuffling, and rolling round on the garret floor, half the night!
b. transferred and figurative. Now rare; in the 17th cent. often with the sense: †To contend vigorously or resolutely.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > contend [verb (intransitive)]
winc888
fightc900
flitec900
wraxlec1000
wrestlea1200
cockc1225
conteckc1290
strivec1290
struta1300
topc1305
to have, hold, make, take strifec1374
stightlea1375
debatec1386
batea1400
strugglec1412
hurlc1440
ruffle1440
warc1460
warslea1500
pingle?a1513
contend1529
repugn1529
scruggle1530
sturtc1535
tuga1550
broilc1567
threap1572
yoke1581
bustle1585
bandy1594
tilt1595
combat1597
to go (also shake, try, wrestle) a fall1597
mutiny1597
militate1598
combatizec1600
scuffle1601
to run (or ride) a-tilt1608
wage1608
contesta1618
stickle1625
conflict1628
stickle1647
dispute1656
fence1665
contrast1672
scramble1696
to battle it1715
rug1832
grabble1835
buffet1839
tussle1862
pickeer1892
passage1895
tangle1928
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxxvi. xv. 585 When the great men of the citie, Cæsar and Pompey, were skuffling together by the eares, hee knew well how to fish in a troubled water.
1639 N. N. tr. J. Du Bosc Compl. Woman i. 7 Here I must needs scuffle with two great errors.
1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) i. 99 [Genoa] is so well fortifyed on the other side..that they could scuflle [sic] notably in their owne defence.
1678 R. L'Estrange tr. Epistles xxviii. 216 in Seneca's Morals Abstracted (1679) Both at Sea, and Land, we Tug, and Scuffle for Dominion and Wealth.
1796 E. Burke Two Lett. Peace Regicide Directory France in Wks. (1808) VIII. 181 Even when their perverse and litigious nature sets them to equivocate, scuffle, and fight about the terms of their written obligations.
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians II. lviii. 249 To scuffle for a few years upon the plains, with the wild tribes..for the flesh and the skins of the last of the buffaloes.
2.
a. transitive. To put on, out, up, etc. in a scrambling or confused manner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > extraction > extract [verb (transitive)] > put out > in a confused manner
scuffle1839
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > providing with clothing > provide with clothing [verb (transitive)] > put on > in hasty or careless manner
warpa1400
to throw ona1450
slip?a1513
slip1590
to steal on1649
huddle1697
slive1820
scuffle1844
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 63/1 There should be a..discipline [in the Church], to the end that matters might not be huddeled and scuffled vppe together confusedly, and without order.
1839 Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 285 I had to rise and scuffle all my things out into the other half of the building..in a heavy rain.
1844 A. Smith Adventures Mr. Ledbury II. x. 142 Scuffling on his dressing-gown, [he] advanced towards them.
1863 J. G. Wood in Intellectual Observer IV. 22 [The mole] passing the worm underneath his body from his fore to his hind feet in a very peculiar manner, scuffling it, as it were, backwards and forwards.
b. To obtain, collect, raise (money). Also with up and intransitive (const. up on). slang (chiefly U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > hastily or haphazardly
ruffle1533
shuffle1570
scamble1577
scramble1822
scuffle1946
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > get or make money [verb (intransitive)] > obtain money
to work the oracle1823
to make a raise1825
scuffle1946
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > get or make money [verb (transitive)] > struggle to gain or scrape up (money)
gather1462
scratch1509
firk1604
scuffle1946
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues Gloss. 378/1 Scuffle up, raise, collect, get together.
1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. Dufty Lady sings Blues vii. 78 I stayed around Philly a couple of days before I could scuffle up enough to get back to New York on the bus.
1965 Malcolm X Autobiogr. (1968) xvi. 389 Trying to scuffle up on some bread.
1973 Brit. Jrnl. Sociol. 24 203 It is surely of immense sociological significance that when a Ras-Tafarian ‘scuffles’ a fare (he might beg, borrow or steal it), he seeks to migrate not to Ethiopia, as we would expect, but to Britain or the United States.
3.
a. intransitive. To struggle through, on, along; hence, to go hurriedly and superficially (through or over some operation).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > be careless or heedless of [verb (transitive)] > perform without accuracy or thoroughness
to toy with ——1563
skima1586
slubber1592
slobber1630
huddle1648
to shuffle over, through1656
slobber1765
slattern1781
scuffle1785
slur1857
perfunctorize1866
smatter1881
the world > action or operation > manner of action > rapidity or speed of action or operation > do, deal with, acquire, etc., quickly [verb (transitive)] > do hurriedly and carelessly > go through or over
to run over ——1577
slubber1592
huddle1648
scuffle1844
slur1857
1785 W. Cowper Tirocinium in Task 340 The rude will scuffle through with ease enough, Great schools suit best the sturdy and the rough. View more context for this quotation
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 218 They are usually scuffled over in the morning with the currycomb.
1844 W. M. Thackeray in Punch 7 83/2 Scuffling through our blessed meals, that we may be early on the road.
1885 J. Runciman Skippers & Shellbacks 235 You go to school and scuffle on the best way you can.
b. To survive with difficulty, to make a bare living by uncongenial or degrading means. slang (chiefly U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > present difficulties [verb (intransitive)] > have difficulty > act or live through difficulties
scamblec1571
scramble1670
shift1723
manage1762
scrub1831
to struggle on1837
scratch1838
widdle1844
to worry along1871
to scrape along1884
to get by1908
scuffle1939
1939 W. Hobson Amer. Jazz Music (1940) 173 At the bottom of the economic pile are those musicians who have nothing which could accurately be called a job but are taking whatever one-night stand happens along; this is called ‘scuffling’.
1956 S. Longstreet Real Jazz xviii. 147 Scuffle is to get by.
1956 M. W. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) xvii. 212 The Basie band was scuffling. ‘It was a cracker town but a happy time,’ Basie recalls.
1961 F. J. Rigney & L. D. Smith Real Bohemia p. xvi Scuffle, to live by one's wits, not by a gig.
1972 T. Kochman Rappin' & Stylin' Out 164 ‘Scuffling’ in the idiom means barely making it from day to day, generally by engaging in nonprestigious..activities such as begging, collecting and returning pop bottles for the deposit, working at odd jobs for minimum wages, etc.
4. To go in hurried confusion; to move with much effort and fuss; also transitive (causatively).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > move swiftly in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > move with urgent speed > go in disorderly haste
tumble1590
cuffle1596
bundle1787
scuffle1838
the world > action or operation > manner of action > rapidity or speed of action or operation > do, deal with, acquire, etc., quickly [verb (transitive)] > cause to be done rapidly > hasten or hurry > a person
buskc1390
enhaste1430
post1570
bustle1575
expede1600
post-haste1607
pearten1827
crowd1838
scuffle1838
rush1889
1838 Lett. fr. Madras (1843) xx. 204 The bearers, Peons, and people whom I had scuffled half out of their lives to get ready in time.
1840 W. M. Thackeray George Cruikshank (1869) 298 The outward rush of heroes,..scuffling at the door, is in the best style of the grotesque.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita I. xii. 412 Drive the populace headlong past it as fast as they can scuffle.
5. To move with a shuffling gait; also, to shuffle (with the feet).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > shuffle or drag the feet
shuffle1576
shauchle1721
slare1726
shaffle1781
scuffle1825
slodge1829
scuff1847
slip-slop1870
slur1889
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > harsh or discordant [verb (intransitive)] > scratch or scrape > one's feet on floor or ground
scrape1561
scuffle1896
1825 T. Hook Sayings & Doings 2nd Ser. III. 48 The man..scuffling along the sanded floor.
1896 ‘I. Maclaren’ Beside Bonnie Brier Bush 219 Is't true Elspeth scuffled wi' her feet at the laist head [of the sermon] and gar'd him close?
Compounds
scuffle-shoe n. a person of ‘slipshod’ habits.Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1895 G. Meredith Amazing Marriage II. xxxv. 128 So scathing was Gower's tone of irate professor to shirky scholar—or it might be put, German professor to English scuffle-shoe.
Derivatives
ˈscuffling n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun]
fightOE
skirmingc1275
medleyc1330
mellinga1375
strugglingc1386
mellayc1400
meddlinga1450
skirmerya1500
stightlinga1500
debatea1533
camping?1549
scrambling1598
scuffling1599
duel1764
tussling1844
scrapping1891
bopping1958
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > [noun] > manner of walking > shuffling
shuffling1608
scuffling1797
shuffle1847
1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 43 This scuffling or bopeepe in the darke they had a while without weame or bracke.
1709 Brit. Apollo: Supernumerary Paper May They had a scuffling for it.
1797 R. Southey Lett. from Spain xxvii. 498 A noise like scuffling of feet.
1868 M. E. Braddon Dead-Sea Fruit I. i. 8 The wrestling, and scuffling, and striving, and struggling of modern commerce.
ˈscuffling adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [adjective]
scrambling1607
scuffling1610
milling1811
pugilant1882
bopping1958
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. ii. 134 I may passe over with silence the skuffling skirmishes which hapned euery daie.
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Prophetesse iv. v, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ffff/1 Your scurvie scuffling trade.
1894 R. Kipling Jungle Bk. 51 The monkeys..would..fight and cry in scuffling crowds.
ˈscufflingly adv.
ΚΠ
1886 R. Kipling Departm. Ditties (1899) 91 My Son, if a maiden deny thee and scufflingly bid thee give o'er.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
scufflev.2
/ˈskʌf(ə)l/ 1. transitive. To scarify or stir the surface (of land) with a thrust-hoe or horse-hoe; to hoe (a crop), cup up (weeds), turn in (seed) by means of a scuffle or scuffler.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (transitive)] > hoe
billc1440
paddle1556
sarculate1623
hoe1712
hack1732
hand-hoe1733
hoe-plough1733
scuffle1766
small-hoe1786
shim1797
horse-hoe1830
nidget1843
first1860
prong-hoe1892
the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > leave unoccupied [verb (transitive)] > clear out > clear of something undesirable
winnowc825
purge1340
dischargec1384
weedc1400
devoida1500
rid?1526
shift1567
free1613
scuffle1766
delouse1942
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > sowing > sow seed [verb (transitive)] > dig, hoe, or harrow in seed
spitc975
harrow1377
hatch1608
scuffle1805
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > cultivate plants or crops [verb (transitive)] > weed or hoe
weeda1325
sarcle1543
hoe1693
scuffle1863
1766 Compl. Farmer at Walk If they [sc. walks] are scuffled over with a Dutch hoe in dry weather, and raked smooth, it will destroy the moss and weeds.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. Pl. x The seed is by this implement scuffled in.
1807 T. Rudge Gen. View Agric. Glouc. (1813) 110 The land is immediately ‘scuffled’ or torn to pieces with the scuffler.
1863 Intellectual Observer IV. 199 A labourer..scuffling turnips.
2. transferred. To scratch, mark with scratches.
ΚΠ
1923 C. F. Jenkins Tortola xi. 67 Our two boys took off their shoes, so that the rough going over the sharp stones would not scuffle them, their feet being tougher than their Sunday shoes.
Derivatives
ˈscuffling n. (also attributive).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > [noun] > hoeing
billingc1440
hoeing1658
sarritiona1722
sarculation1733
scuffling1802
1802 W. Amos Theory & Pract. Drill Husb. 243 Mellow land..requires no other preparation than scuffling, harrowing &c.
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm III. 959 The [mould-board] plough..is convertible into a scuffling or cleaning plough, or horse-hoe.
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm III. 959 A second mortise is punched in each wing-bar to receive the scuffling coulters.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
<
n.1a1616
n.21797v.11579v.21766- put etc in the dozens
- put etc into neutral
- put etc it on thick
- put etc out of heart
- put etc out of the gate
- put etc the béal bocht
- puttockshroud
- puttogether
- puttony
- puttoo
- puttputt
- putts
- putty
- putty ball
- putty bed
- putty beige
- putty blower
- putty cement
- putty colour
- putty dish
- putty face
- putty grey
- putty head
- putty joint
- putty knife