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ruck

Pronunciation: /ɹʌk/

The English word “ruck” has 17 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A throng or crowd of people or things; a mass, a pack.
  2. A contest in games in which the ball is thrown or bounced in the air and two players from opposing teams attempt to give their team an advantage, typically by tapping the ball to a teammate.
  3. A player who competes in said contests; a ruckman or ruckwoman.
  4. Either of a ruckman or a ruck rover, but not a rover.
  5. Any one of a ruckman, a ruck rover or a rover; a follower.
  6. The situation formed when a player carrying the ball is brought to the ground and one or more members of each side are engaged above the ball, trying to win possession of it; a loose scrum.
  7. The common mass of people or things; the ordinary ranks.
  8. An argument or fight.
  9. A crease, a wrinkle, a pucker, as on fabric.
  10. A rucksack; a large backpack.
  11. A small heifer.

verb

  1. To act as a ruck in a stoppage in Australian rules football.
  2. To contest the possession of the ball in a ruck.
  3. To crease or fold.
  4. To become creased or folded.
  5. To cower or huddle together; to squat; to sit, as a hen on eggs.
  6. To carry a backpack while hiking or marching.

Etymology

From Middle English ruke, from or related to Old Norse hraukr, which is from Proto-Germanic *hraukaz (“haystack, heap”). Compare Icelandic hrúka, Swedish ruka.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.