The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section R

Chapter 49

Chapter 494,035 wordsPublic domain

Ross (?); 115), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] The rough, scaly matter on the surface of the bark of trees. [Prov. Eng. & Local, U.S.]

Ross, v. t. To divest of the ross, or rough, scaly surface; as, to ross bark. [Local, U.S.]

Ros"sel (?), n. Light land; rosland. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Mortimer.

Ros"sel cur`rent (?). [From Rossel Island, in the Louisiade Archipelago.] (Oceanography) A portion of the southern equatorial current flowing westward from the Fiji Islands to New Guinea. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Ros"sel*ly (?), a. Loose; light. [Obs.] Mortimer.

Rost (?), n. See Roust. [Scot.] Jamieson.

Ros"tel (?), n. [L. rostellum, dim. of rostrum a beak: cf. F. rostelle.] same as Rostellum.

Ros*tel"lar (?), a. Pertaining to a rostellum.

Ros"tel*late (?), a. [NL. rostellatus.] Having a rostellum, or small beak; terminating in a beak.

Ros*tel"li*form (?), a. Having the form of a rostellum, or small beak.

||Ros*tel"lum (?), n.; pl. Rostella (#). [L. See Rostel.] A small ||beaklike process or extension of some part; a small rostrum; as, the ||rostellum of the stigma of violets, or of the operculum of many ||mosses; the rostellum on the head of a tapeworm.

Ros"ter (?), n. [Perhaps a corruption of register; or cf. roll.] (Mil.) A register or roll showing the order in which officers, enlisted men, companies, or regiments are called on to serve.

Ros"tra (?), n. pl. See Rostrum, 2.

Ros"tral (?), a. [L. rostralis, fr. rostrum a beak; cf. F. rostral.] Of or pertaining to the beak or snout of an animal, or the beak of a ship; resembling a rostrum, esp., the rostra at Rome, or their decorations.

[Monuments] adorned with rostral crowns and naval ornaments.

Addison.

{ Ros"trate (?), Ros"tra*ted (?) }, a. [L. rostratus, fr. rostrum a beak. See Rostrum.] 1. Having a process resembling the beak of a bird; beaked; rostellate.

2. Furnished or adorned with beaks; as, rostrated galleys.

||Ros*trif"e*ra (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. L. rostrum beak + ferre to bear.] ||(Zoöl.) A division of pectinibranchiate gastropods, having the head ||prolonged into a snout which is not retractile.

Ros"tri*form (?), a. [L. rostrum a beak + -form: cf. F. rostrifarme.] Having the form of a beak.

||Ros"tru*lum (-tr*lm), n.; pl. Rostrula (#). [NL., dim. of L. rostrum ||a beak.] A little rostrum, or beak, as of an insect.

Ros"trum (-trm), n.; pl. L. Rostra (#), E. Rostrums (#). [L., beak, ship's beak, fr. rodere, rosum, to gnaw. See Rodent.] 1. The beak or head of a ship.

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2. pl. (Rostra) (Rom. Antiq.) The Beaks; the stage or platform in the forum where orations, pleadings, funeral harangues, etc., were delivered; -- so called because after the Latin war, it was adorned with the beaks of captured vessels; later, applied also to other platforms erected in Rome for the use of public orators.

3. Hence, a stage for public speaking; the pulpit or platform occupied by an orator or public speaker.

Myself will mount the rostrum in his favor.

Addison.

4. (Zoöl.) (a) Any beaklike prolongation, esp. of the head of an animal, as the beak of birds. (b) The beak, or sucking mouth parts, of Hemiptera. (c) The snout of a gastropod mollusk. See Illust. of Littorina. (d) The anterior, often spinelike, prolongation of the carapace of a crustacean, as in the lobster and the prawn.

5. (Bot.) Same as Rostellum.

6. (Old Chem.) The pipe to convey the distilling liquor into its receiver in the common alembic. Quincy.

7. (Surg.) A pair of forceps of various kinds, having a beaklike form. [Obs.] Coxe.

Ro"su*late (?), a. [NL. rosulatus, fr. L. rosa a rose.] (Bot.) Arranged in little roselike clusters; -- said of leaves and bracts.

Ros"y (?), a. [Compar. Rosier (?); superl. Rosiest.] Resembling a rose in color, form, or qualities; blooming; red; blushing; also, adorned with roses.

A smile that glowed Celestial rosy-red, love's proper hue.

Milton.

While blooming youth and gay delight Sit thy rosy cheeks confessed.

Prior.

Rosy is sometimes used in the formation of self&?;xplaining compounde; as, rosy-bosomed, rosy- colored, rosy-crowned, rosy-fingered, rosy- tinted.

Rosy cross. See the Note under Rosicrucian, n.

Rot (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rotted; p. pr. & vb. n. Rotting.] [OE. rotien, AS. rotian; akin to D. rotten, Prov. G. rotten, OHG. rozz&?;n, G. rösten to steep flax, Icel. rotna to rot, Sw. ruttna, Dan. raadne, Icel. rottin rotten. &radic;117. Cf. Ret, Rotten.] 1. To undergo a process common to organic substances by which they lose the cohesion of their parts and pass through certain chemical changes, giving off usually in some stages of the process more or less offensive odors; to become decomposed by a natural process; to putrefy; to decay.

Fixed like a plant on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot.

Pope.

2. Figuratively: To perish slowly; to decay; to die; to become corrupt.

Four of the sufferers were left to rot in irons.

Macaulay.

Rot, poor bachelor, in your club.

Thackeray.

Syn. -- To putrefy; corrupt; decay; spoil.

Rot, v. t. 1. To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes; as, to rot vegetable fiber.

2. To expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret.

Rot, n. 1. Process of rotting; decay; putrefaction.

2. (Bot.) A disease or decay in fruits, leaves, or wood, supposed to be caused by minute fungi. See Bitter rot, Black rot, etc., below.

3. [Cf. G. rotz glanders.] A fatal distemper which attacks sheep and sometimes other animals. It is due to the presence of a parasitic worm in the liver or gall bladder. See 1st Fluke, 2.

His cattle must of rot and murrain die.

Milton.

Bitter rot (Bot.), a disease of apples, caused by the fungus Glæosporium fructigenum. F. L. Scribner. -- Black rot (Bot.), a disease of grapevines, attacking the leaves and fruit, caused by the fungus Læstadia Bidwellii. F. L. Scribner. -- Dry rot (Bot.) See under Dry. -- Grinder's rot (Med.) See under Grinder. -- Potato rot. (Bot.) See under Potato. -- White rot (Bot.), a disease of grapes, first appearing in whitish pustules on the fruit, caused by the fungus Coniothyrium diplodiella. F. L. Scribner.

||Ro"ta (?), n. [L. rota wheel. The name is said to allude to the ||design of the floor of the room in which the court used to sit, which ||was that of a wheel. See Rotary.] 1. An ecclesiastical court of Rome, ||called also Rota Romana, that takes cognizance of suits by appeal. It ||consists of twelve members.

2. (Eng. Hist.) A short-lived political club established in 1659 by J.Harrington to inculcate the democratic doctrine of election of the principal officers of the state by ballot, and the annual retirement of a portion of Parliament.

Ro"ta (?), n. (Mus.) A species of zither, played like a guitar, used in the Middle Ages in church music; -- written also rotta.

Ro"ta*cism (?), n. See Rhotacism.

Ro"tal (?), a. Relating to wheels or to rotary motion; rotary. [R.]

Ro"ta*lite (?), n. [L. rota wheel + -lite.] (Paleon.) Any fossil foraminifer of the genus Rotalia, abundant in the chalk formation. See Illust. under Rhizopod.

Ro"ta*ry (?), a. [L. rota a wheel. See Roll, v., and cf. barouche, Rodomontade, Roué, Round, a., Rowel.] Turning, as a wheel on its axis; pertaining to, or resembling, the motion of a wheel on its axis; rotatory; as, rotary motion.

Rotary engine, steam engine in which the continuous rotation of the shaft is produced by the direct action of the steam upon rotating devices which serve as pistons, instead of being derived from a reciprocating motion, as in the ordinary engine; a steam turbine; -- called also rotatory engine. -- Rotary pump, a pump in which the fluid is impelled by rotating devices which take the place of reciprocating buckets or pistons. -- Rotary shears, shears, as for cloth, metal, etc., in which revolving sharp-edged or sharp-cornered wheels do the cutting. -- Rotary valve, a valve acting by continuous or partial rotation, as in the four-way cock.

Ro"ta*scope (?), n. [L. rota a wheel + -scope.] Same as Gyroscope, 1.

Ro"tate (?), a. [L. rotatus, p. p. of rotare to turn round like a wheel, fr. rota wheel. See Rotary, and cf. Roue.] Having the parts spreading out like a wheel; wheel-shaped; as, a rotate spicule or scale; a rotate corolla, i.e., a monopetalous corolla with a flattish border, and no tube or a very short one.

Ro"tate (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rotated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Rotating.] 1. To turn, as a wheel, round an axis; to revolve.

2. To perform any act, function, or operation in turn, to hold office in turn; as, to rotate in office.

Ro"tate, v. i. 1. To cause to turn round or revolve, as a wheel around an axle.

2. To cause to succeed in turn; esp., to cause to succeed some one, or to be succeeded by some one, in office. [Colloq.] "Both, after a brief service, were rotated out of office." Harper's Mag.

Ro"ta*ted (?), a. Turned round, as a wheel; also, wheel-shaped; rotate.

Ro*ta"tion (?), n. [L. rotatio: cf. F. rotation.] 1. The act of turning, as a wheel or a solid body on its axis, as distinguished from the progressive motion of a revolving round another body or a distant point; thus, the daily turning of the earth on its axis is a rotation; its annual motion round the sun is a revolution.

2. Any return or succesion in a series.

Moment of rotation. See Moment of inertia, under Moment. -- Rotation in office, the practice of changing public officers at frequent intervals by discharges and substitutions. -- Rotation of crops, the practices of cultivating an orderly succession of different crops on the same land.

Ro*ta"tion (?), a. Pertaining to, or resulting from, rotation; of the nature of, or characterized by, rotation; as, rotational velocity.

Ro"ta*tive (?), a. [Cf. F. rotatif.] turning, as a wheel; rotary; rotational.

This high rotative velocity of the sun must cause an equatorial rise of the solar atmosphere.

Siemens.

Rotative engine, a steam engine in which the reciprocating motion of the piston is transformed into a continuous rotary motion, as by means of a connecting rod, a working beam and crank, or an oscillating cylinder.

Ro*ta"tor (?), n. [L.] 1. (Anat.) that which gives a rotary or rolling motion, as a muscle which partially rotates or turns some part on its axis.

2. (Metal.) A revolving reverberatory furnace.

||Ro`ta*to"ri*a (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoöl.) Same as Rotifera.

Ro"ta*to*ry (?), a. [Cf. F. rotatoire. See Rotate, Rotary.] 1. Turning as on an axis; rotary.

2. Going in a circle; following in rotation or succession; as, rotatory assembles. Burke.

3. (Opt.) Producing rotation of the plane of polarization; as, the rotatory power of bodies on light. See the Note under polarization. Nichol.

Ro"ta*to*ry, n. (Zoöl.) A rotifer. [R.] Kirby.

Rotche (?), n. (Zoöl.) A very small arctic sea bird (Mergulus alle, or Alle alle) common on both coasts of the Atlantic in winter; -- called also little auk, dovekie, rotch, rotchie, and sea dove.

Rotch"et (?), n. (Zoöl.) The European red gurnard (Trigla pini).

Rote (?), n. A root. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Rote (?), n. [OE. rote, probably of German origin; cf. MHG. rotte, OHG. rota, hrota, LL. chrotta. Cf. Crowd a kind of violin.] (Mus.) A kind of guitar, the notes of which were produced by a small wheel or wheel-like arrangement; an instrument similar to the hurdy-gurdy.

Well could he sing and play on a rote.

Chaucer.

extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, crowds, and rotes.

Sir W. Scott.

Rote, n. [Cf. Rut roaring.] The noise produced by the surf of the sea dashing upon the shore. See Rut.

Rote, n. [OF. rote, F. route, road, path. See Route, and cf. Rut a furrow, Routine.] A frequent repetition of forms of speech without attention to the meaning; mere repetition; as, to learn rules by rote. Swift.

till he the first verse could [i. e., knew] all by rote.

Chaucer.

Thy love did read by rote, and could not spell.

Shak.

Rote, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Roted; p. pr. & vb. n. Roting.] To learn or repeat by rote. [Obs.] Shak.

Rote, v. i. To go out by rotation or succession; to rotate. [Obs.] Z. Grey.

Ro*tel"la (?), n. [NL., dim. of rota wheel; cf. LL. rotella a little whell.] (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of small, polished, brightcolored gastropods of the genus Rotella, native of tropical seas.

Rot"gut (?), n. 1. Bad small beer. [Slang]

2. Any bad spirituous liquor, especially when adulterated so as to be very deleterious. [Slang]

Roth"er (?), a. [AS. hryðer; cf. D. rund.] (Zoöl.) Bovine. -- n. A bovine beast. [Obs.] Shak.

Rother beasts, cattle of the bovine genus; black cattle. [Obs.] Golding. -- Rother soil, the dung of rother beasts.

Roth"er, n. [OE. See Rudder.] A rudder.

Rother nail, a nail with a very full head, used for fastening the rudder irons of ships; -- so called by shipwrights.

Ro"ti*fer (?; 277), n. [NL. see Rotifera.] (Zoöl.) One of the Rotifera. See Illust. in Appendix.

||Ro*tif"e*ra (?), n.; pl. [NL., from L. rota &?; wheel + ferre to ||bear.] (Zoöl.) An order of minute worms which usually have one or two ||groups of vibrating cilia on the head, which, when in motion, often ||give an appearance of rapidly revolving wheels. The species are very ||numerous in fresh waters, and are very diversified in form and ||habits.

Ro"ti*form (?), a. [L. rota wheel + -form.] 1. Wheel-shaped; as, rotiform appendages.

2. (Bot.) Same as Rotate.

Rot"ta (?), n. (Mus.) See Rota.

Rot"ten (?), a. [Icel. rotinn; akin to Sw. rutten, Dan. radden. See Rot.] Having rotted; putrid; decayed; as, a rotten apple; rotten meat. Hence: (a) Offensive to the smell; fetid; disgusting.

You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate As reek of the rotten fens.

Shak.

(b) Not firm or trusty; unsound; defective; treacherous; unsafe; as, a rotten plank, bone, stone. "The deepness of the rotten way." Knolles.

Rotten borough. See under Borough. -- Rotten stone (Min.), a soft stone, called also Tripoli (from the country from which it was formerly brought), used in all sorts of finer grinding and polishing in the arts, and for cleaning metallic substances. The name is also given to other friable siliceous stones applied to like uses.

Syn. -- Putrefied; decayed; carious; defective; unsound; corrupt; deceitful; treacherous.

-- Rot"ten*ly, adv. -- Rot"ten*ness, n.

||Rot"u*la (?), n. [L., a little wheel; cf. It. rotula.] (Anat.) The ||patella, or kneepan.

Rot"u*lar (?), a. [L. rotula, dim. of rota wheel.] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the rotula, or kneepan.

Ro*tund" (?), a. [L. rotundus. See Round, and cf. Rotunda.] 1. Round; circular; spherical.

2. Hence, complete; entire.

3. (Bot.) Orbicular, or nearly so. Gray.

Ro*tund", n. A rotunda. [Obs.] Burke.

Ro*tun"da (?), n. [Cf. It. rotonda, F. rotonde; both fr. L. rotundus round. See Rotund, a.] (Arch.) A round building; especially, one that is round both on the outside and inside, like the Pantheon at Rome. Less properly, but very commonly, used for a large round room; as, the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington.

Ro*tund"ate (?), a. Rounded; especially, rounded at the end or ends, or at the corners.

Ro*tund`i*fo"li*ous (?), a. [L. rotundus round + folium a leaf.] (Bot.) Having round leaves.

Ro*tund"i*ty (?), n. [L. rotunditas: cf. F. rotondité.] 1. The state or quality of being rotu&?;; roundness; sphericity; circularity.

Smite flat the thick rotundity o'the world!

Shak.

2. Hence, completeness; entirety; roundness.

For the more rotundity of the number and grace of the matter, it passeth for a full thousand.

Fuller.

A boldness and rotundity of speech.

Hawthorne.

Ro*tund"ness, n. Roundness; rotundity.

Ro*tun"do (?), n. See Rotunda.

Ro*tur"er (?), n. A roturier. [Obs.] Howell.

||Ro`tu`rier" (?), n. [F.] A person who is not of noble birth; specif., ||a freeman who during the prevalence of feudalism held allodial land.

Rot"y (?), v. t. [See Rot.] To make rotten. [Obs.]

Well bet is rotten apple out of hoard, Than that it roty all the remenant.

Chaucer.

||Rou"ble (?), n. A coin. See Ruble.

Rouche (?), n. See Ruche.

||Rou`é" (?), n. [F., properly p. p. of rouer to break upon the wheel, ||fr. roue a wheel, L. rota. See Rotate, Rotary.] One devoted to a life ||of sensual pleasure; a debauchee; a rake.

||Rou`et" (?), n. [F.] A small wheel formerly fixed to the pan of ||firelocks for discharging them. Crabb.

Rouge (?), a. [F., fr. L. rubeus red, akin to rubere to be red, ruber red. See Red.] red. [R.]

||Rouge et noir (&?;) [F., red and black], a game at cards in which ||persons play against the owner of the bank; -- so called because the ||table around which the players sit has certain compartments colored ||red and black, upon which the stakes are deposited. Hoyle.

Rouge, n. [F.] 1. (Chem.) A red amorphous powder consisting of ferric oxide. It is used in polishing glass, metal, or gems, and as a cosmetic, etc. Called also crocus, jeweler's rouge, etc.

2. A cosmetic used for giving a red color to the cheeks or lips. The best is prepared from the dried flowers of the safflower, but it is often made from carmine. Ure.

Rouge, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rouged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Rouging .] To paint the face or cheeks with rouge.

Rouge, v. t. To tint with rouge; as, to rouge the face or the cheeks.

Rouge`croix" (? or ?), n. [F., literally, red cross.] (Her.) One of the four pursuivants of the English college of arms.

Rouge" drag`on (?), n. [F., literally, red dragon.] (Her.) One of the four pursuivants of the English college of arms.

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Rough (?), a. [Compar. Rougher (?); superl. Roughest.] [OE. rou&?;, rou, row, rugh, ruh, AS. r&?;h; akin to LG. rug, D. rug, D. ruig, ruw, OHG. r&?;h, G. rauh, rauch; cf. Lith. raukas wrinkle, rukti to wrinkle. &radic; 18. Cf. Rug, n.] 1. Having inequalities, small ridges, or points, on the surface; not smooth or plain; as, a rough board; a rough stone; rough cloth. Specifically: (a) Not level; having a broken surface; uneven; -- said of a piece of land, or of a road. "Rough, uneven ways." Shak.

(b) Not polished; uncut; -- said of a gem; as, a rough diamond. (c) Tossed in waves; boisterous; high; -- said of a sea or other piece of water.

More unequal than the roughest sea.

T. Burnet.

(d) Marked by coarseness; shaggy; ragged; disordered; -- said of dress, appearance, or the like; as, a rough coat. "A visage rough." Dryden. "Roughsatyrs." Milton.

2. Hence, figuratively, lacking refinement, gentleness, or polish. Specifically: (a) Not courteous or kind; harsh; rude; uncivil; as, a rough temper.

A fiend, a fury, pitiless and rough.

Shak.

A surly boatman, rough as wayes or winds.

Prior.

(b) Marked by severity or violence; harsh; hard; as, rough measures or actions.

On the rough edge of battle.

Milton.

A quicker and rougher remedy.

Clarendon.

Kind words prevent a good deal of that perverseness which rough and imperious usage often produces.

Locke.

(c) Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating; -- said of sound, voice, and the like; as, a rough tone; rough numbers. Pope.

(d) Austere; harsh to the taste; as, rough wine. (e) Tempestuous; boisterous; stormy; as, rough weather; a rough day.

He stayeth his rough wind.

Isa. xxvii. 8.

Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.

Shak.

(f) Hastily or carelessly done; wanting finish; incomplete; as, a rough estimate; a rough draught.

Rough diamond, an uncut diamond; hence, colloquially, a person of intrinsic worth under a rude exterior. -- Rough and ready. (a) Acting with offhand promptness and efficiency. "The rough and ready understanding." Lowell.

(b) Produced offhand. "Some rough and ready theory." Tylor.

Rough, n. 1. Boisterous weather. [Obs.] Fletcher.

2. A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy.

In the rough, in an unwrought or rude condition; unpolished; as, a diamond or a sketch in the rough.

Contemplating the people in the rough.

Mrs. Browning.

Rough, adv. In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.

Sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats.

Sir W. Scott.

Rough, v. t. 1. To render rough; to roughen.

2. To break in, as a horse, especially for military purposes. Crabb.

3. To cut or make in a hasty, rough manner; -- with out; as, to rough out a carving, a sketch.

Roughing rolls, rolls for reducing, in a rough manner, a bloom of iron to bars. -- To rough it, to endure hard conditions of living; to live without ordinary comforts.

Rough`cast" (?), v. t. 1. To form in its first rudiments, without revision, correction, or polish. Dryden.

2. To mold without nicety or elegance; to form with asperities and inequalities.

3. To plaster with a mixture of lime and shells or pebbles; as, to roughcast a building.

Rough"cast`, n. 1. A rude model; the rudimentary, unfinished form of a thing.

2. A kind of plastering made of lime, with a mixture of shells or pebbles, used for covering buildings. Shak.

Rough"cast`er (?), n. One who roughcasts.

Rough"draw` (?), v. t. To draw or delineate rapidly and by way of a first sketch.

Rough"dry` (?), v. t. in laundry work, to dry without smoothing or ironing.

Rough"en (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Roughened (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Roughening.] [From Rough.] To make rough.

Rough"en, v. i. To grow or become rough.

Rough"-foot`ed (?), a. (Zoöl.) Feather-footed; as, a rough-footed dove. [R.] Sherwood.

Rough"-grained (?), a. Having a rough grain or fiber; hence, figuratively, having coarse traits of character; not polished; brisque.

Rough"head` (?), n. (Zoöl.) The redfin.

Rough"hew` (?), v. t. 1. To hew coarsely, without smoothing; as, to roughhew timber.

2. To give the first form or shape to; to form rudely; to shape approximately and rudely; to roughcast.

There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Roughhew them how we will.

Shak.

Rough"hew`er (?), n. One who roughhews.

Rough"hewn` (?), a. 1. Hewn coarsely without smoothing; unfinished; not polished.

2. Of coarse manners; rude; uncultivated; rough-grained. "A roughhewn seaman." Bacon.

Rough"ing-in` (?), n. The first coat of plaster laid on brick; also, the process of applying it.

Rough"ings (?), n. pl. Rowen. [Prov. Eng.]

Rough"ish, a. Somewhat rough.

Rough"leg` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of large hawks of the genus Archibuteo, having the legs feathered to the toes. Called also rough-legged hawk, and rough-legged buzzard.

The best known species is Archibuteo lagopus of Northern Europe, with its darker American variety (Sancti- johannis). The latter is often nearly or quite black. The ferruginous roughleg (Archibuteo ferrugineus) inhabits Western North America.

Rough"-legged` (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having the legs covered with feathers; -- said of a bird.

rough-legged hawk. (Zoöl.) See Roughleg.

Rough"ly, adv. In a rough manner; unevenly; harshly; rudely; severely; austerely.

Rough"ness, n. The quality or state of being rough.

Rough"rid`er (?), n. One who breaks horses; especially (Mil.), a noncommissioned officer in the British cavalry, whose duty is to assist the riding master.

Rough"scuff (?), n. [Rough + scuff.] A rough, coarse fellow; collectively, the lowest class of the people; the rabble; the riffraff. [Colloq. U.S.]

Rough"set`ter (?), n. A mason who builds rough stonework.

Rough"shod (?), a. Shod with shoes armed with points or calks; as, a roughshod horse.

To ride roughshod, to pursue a course regardless of the pain or distress it may cause others.

Rough"strings` (?), n. pl. (Capr.) Pieces of undressed timber put under the steps of a wooden stair for their support.

Rought (?), obs. imp. of Reach.

Rought, obs. imp. of Reck, to care. Chaucer.

Rough"tail` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any species of small ground snakes of the family Uropeltidæ; -- so called from their rough tails.

Rough"work` (?), v. t. To work over coarsely, without regard to nicety, smoothness, or finish. Moxon.

Rough"wrought` (?), a. Wrought in a rough, unfinished way; worked over coarsely.

Rouk (?), v. i. See 5th Ruck, and Roke. [Obs.]