a situation in Rugby Union in which one or more players from each team close round the ball when it is on the ground and try to kick it the ball out to their own team: compare maul2
in Australian Rules football, three players who do not have fixed positions
an indistinguishable mass of people or things
(the ruck) the usual run of people or things
[Middle English ruke pile of combustible material, of Scandinavian origin]