rugger
Syllables: rug·ger/ˈɹʌɡə/US/ˈɹʌɡɚ/
rugger noun: rugby.
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Noun
rugger (countable and uncountable, plural ruggers)
- rugby
- That . . . . . . may for once put a full Rugger team in the field1886 November 10, A. Macaulay, “The Advance of Science”, in The Oxford Magazine, page 356
- Golf is perhaps seven or eight years old in Oxford, ... football, seu Rugger, sive Soccer, not more than sixteen or seventeen.1888 February 15, “Charley Symonds”, in The Oxford Magazine, page 224
- Synonyms:
- rugby footballer, rugby player
- rugby player
- Some people refer to a Dropped Goal as if it were a misfortune rather than the perfection of football ... Genuine "Ruggers" will, of course, scoff at this1889 November 23, "Banshee", “The World of Pastime”, in The Penny Illustrated Paper, volume 57, number 1486, London, page 407
- To this day ruggers belittle soccer, and they will tell anyone who expresses the slightest interest in their game that rugby is "a ruffian's game played by gentlemen," while soccer is "a gentleman's game played by ruffians."1974 August, Paul Burka, “The Sport of Rough Gentlemen”, in Texas Monthly, volume 2, number 8, page 42
Examples of rugger in a sentence
- Rugger (schools), the Rugby game at football1890, Albert Barrère, Charles Leland, A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant, volume 2, Ballantyne, page 191:
- When you put sixty ruggers and their friends and lovers in a bar, you've really got something going.1977 Apr, Robert McKay, “My Heart's In Highlands, A Chasing The Ruggers”, in Cincinnati Magazine, volume 10, number 7, page 80:
- Some of the world's most talented ruggers had come to New York for the weekend to play for fun.1996 December 16, Shannon Black, “Rugby: Aliens 3, Locals 0”, in New York Magazine, volume 29, number 49, page 22:
Synonyms of rugger
- rugby footballer
- rugby player
- sport
Forms of rugger
| plural | ruggers |
|---|
Origin of rugger
From rugby (“Rugby football”) + -er (Oxford “-er”). Compare contemporary soccer, from Association football. Both words seem to have originated at the University of Oxford during the 1880s. See Oxford -er.
Words formed from rugger
Phrases with rugger
Words that rhyme with rugger
Questions about rugger
- What does rugger mean?
- Rugger means rugby.
- How do you use rugger in a sentence?
- Rugger (schools), the Rugby game at football
- What part of speech is rugger?
- Rugger is a noun.
- How do you pronounce rugger?
- Rugger is pronounced /ˈɹʌɡə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of rugger?
- The plural of rugger is ruggers.
Words near rugger in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rugger (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-rugger.wav.
Cite this entry: “rugger.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rugger. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.