rouse
/ɹaʊz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.10 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To provoke (someone) to react (for example, in anger or annoyance); to spur; also, to annoy, to tease.
Transitive verb
verb
Originally chiefly followed by up: to cause (an emotional reaction, a feeling, etc.); to excite, to incite, to stir up.
Transitive verb
verb
Sometimes followed by up: to disturb (someone) from a state of apathy, comfort, etc.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Thee water is rowſed, they [two serpents] do friſke with floũce [flounce] to yͤ ſhoare ward, / Thee land with ſtaring eyes bluddy and firie beholding: […]"
- "And the vvhole family, therevvith adredd, / Raſhly out of their rouzed couches ſprong, / And to the troubled chamber all in armes did throng."
- "He ſcarce had finiſht, vvhen ſuch murmur filld / Th' Aſſembly, as vvhen hollovv Rocks retain / The ſound of bluſtring vvinds, vvhich all night long / Had rous'd the Sea, […]"
- "Leſt they ſhou'd blame her, / An' rouſe their holy thunder on it / And anathem her."
- "This day is called the day of Cryſpin, / He that outliues this day, and ſees old age, / Shall ſtand a tiptoe vvhen this day is named, / And rovvſe him at the name of Cryſpin."
- "The emperor is roused by this alarm, and the frontiers of all the French dominions are in danger of being insulted [in] the ensuing campaign."
Etymology
The verb is derived from Late Middle English rousen (“of a hawk: to shake its feathers”); further etymology unknown. Because many terms of French origin are used in falconry, it has been assumed that the Middle English word is derived from Anglo-Norman or French; however, no satisfactory etymon has been found. The following words have been suggested, but are thought by the Oxford English Dictionary to be unlikely due to the differences in meaning: * Anglo-Norman rëuser, roser, ruser, russer, Middle French ruser, and Old French rëuser (“to drive back, repulse”) (modern French ruser). * An Old Norse word from which Danish ruse (“to hurry, rush”) and Swedish rusa (“to hurry, rush”) are derived. Compare row (“quarrel”), possibly related to or derived from this word. The noun is derived from the verb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɹaʊz/
- British English: /ɹaʊz/
Usage
Inflected Forms
rouses (present, singular)
rousing (participle, present)
roused (participle, past)
roused (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
roused (first person, past)
rousest (archaic, present)
roused (past, second person)
rousedst (archaic, past)
rouseth (archaic, present)
roused (past, singular)