ruse
/ɹuz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.16 in modern English
4
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A turning or doubling back, especially of animals to get out of the way of hunting dogs.
Archaic; Countable
verb
Of an animal: to turn or double back to elude hunters or their hunting dogs.
Archaic; Intransitive verb
name
A suburb of Sydney in the Campbelltown council area, New South Wales, Australia.
name
A city in northeastern Bulgaria.
name
A municipality of Ruse Province, Bulgaria.
Example Sentences
- "The boar was evidently most averse to leave the field in which he had spent so may pleasant hours of uninterrupted rest; […] He turned sharply to one flank; he stopped dead, and went away in the opposite direction as he heard the hunters gallop past; every ruse he tried, but tried in vain."
- "Near-synonyms: ploy, stratagem, artifice"
- "It must be borne in mind that huntsmen sometimes make casts which they know must lose them their fox: […] At the same time, it would be bad policy to explain these little matters: some parties, who are not sufficiently acquainted with the management of hounds, might be discontented, whereas by such a ruse no offence is given, as nine-tenths of the Field are not aware that it is not the most likely cast to recover the scent."
- "He was soon upon his feet, another assegai whistled through the air, and pierced through the neck of the lioness. But, as before, the wound was not fatal, and the animal, now enraged to a frenzy, charged once more upon her assailant. So rapid was her advance that it was with great difficulty Congo got under cover. A moment later, and his ruse would have failed, for the claws of the lion rattled upon the shield as it descended."
- "I have that strong impression on my mind that a person who is guilty of a ruse will hesitate at no falsehood. If it was a ruse, and if it was a deceit, you are to judge whether that elevates the persons in your mind who are parties to that trick."
- "Soon, however, Courvoisier forced matters, when, despairing of ever catching the wily outlaw leader by fair means, he resorted to the ruse of carrying off Friar Tuck of Copmanhurst and holding him as a hostage."
Etymology
From Middle English rūse (“evasive movements of a pursued animal; circuitous course taken by a hunter to pursue a game animal”), from Old French rëuse, ruse (“evasive movements of a pursued animal; trickery”) (modern French ruse (“trick, ruse; cunning, guile”)), from ruser (“to use cunning, to be crafty, beguile”), possibly from Latin rursus (“backward; on the contrary; again, in return”) or Latin recūsāre, from recūsō (“to decline, refuse; to object to, protest, reject”). Doublet of recuse and rouse in the latter case. The verb is derived from the noun. Compare Middle French ruser (“to use cunning, to be crafty, beguile”); see further above.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: rūse, rëuse, rursus, recūsāre, -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɹuz/
- British English: /ɹuːz/