scuffle
Syllables: scuf·fleUK/ˈskʌfəl/
scuffle noun: a rough, disorderly fight or struggle at close quarters.
.jpg){kind=link}
Noun (1)
scuffle (plural scuffles)
- A rough, disorderly fight or struggle at close quarters.
- The Dog leaps upon the Serpent, and Tears it to Pieces; but in the Scuffle the Cradle happen'd to be Overturn'd: […]1692, Roger L'Estrange, “Fab[le] CCCCLXX. A Farmer and His Servant.”, in Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: With Morals and Reflexions, London: Printed for R[ichard] Sare, T. Sawbridge...
- It appears the Company had received news that one of their captains had been killed in a scuffle with the natives.1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 198
- Poverty; struggle.
- But even on the scuffle / The cleaner's press was in my jeans1975, Joni Mitchell, “The Boho Dance”, in The Hissing of Summer Lawns
- A child's pinafore or bib.
Verb (1)
scuffle (third-person singular simple present scuffles, present participle scuffling, simple past and past participle scuffled)
- To fight or struggle confusedly at close quarters.
- Certainly a gallant man had rather fight to great diſadvantages for number and place in the field in an orderly way, then ſcuffle with an undiſciplined rabble.1648, attributed to Charles I of England, Εἰκὼν Βασιλική [Eikōn Basilikē = Royal Portrait]. The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Maiestie, in His Solitvdes and Svfferings, [London?]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 15
- To walk with a shuffling gait.
- But shiftings and readjustments ensued, as they are sure to do with a walking-party. Cope presently found himself scuffling through the thin grass and the briery thickets alongside the young business-man.1919, Henry B[lake] Fuller, “Cope at His House Party”, in Bertram Cope’s Year: A Novel, Chicago, Ill.: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The Alderbrink Press, →OCLC, page 94
- To make a living with difficulty, getting by on a low income, to struggle financially.
- Once a good friend of mine, a fine hoofer who was having trouble getting bookings, ran up to that tree, gave it a big smack, and yelled “Lawd please make me a pimp, any kind of a pimp, long as I’m pimpin’. I’m tired of scufflin’ and my feet are too long outa work.”1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Tell a Green Man Something”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 3 (1928–1935: The Big Apple), page 208
Noun (2)
scuffle (plural scuffles)
- A type of hoe, manipulated by both pushing and pulling, with a sharp blade parallel with the worked surface; an instance of this type.
- Near-synonyms: collinear hoe, collineal hoe (loosely synonymous)
- Synonyms:
- scuffle hoe, Dutch hoe, collinear hoe, collineal hoe[Appendix:Glossary
Verb (2)
scuffle (third-person singular simple present scuffles, present participle scuffling, simple past and past participle scuffled)
- To work the soil surface for weeding, etc.
- Near-synonyms: (sometimes synonymous) scarify, cultivate, grub; weed
scuffle meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
scuffle in Tamil
- பூசல், சச்சரவு, அடிபிடி, சண்டை, மல்லுக்கட்டு, அமளி
scuffle in Marathi
- a scuffle, altercation
- हातघाई hātghāī
scuffle in Urdu
- دھینگا مشتی, ہاتھا پائی, کشتم کشتا, لڑائی جھگڑا, مار پیٹ, مارا مار
scuffle in Bengali
- হাতাহাতি, ধস্তাধস্তি
More languagesFewer languages
- scuffle in Malayalam
- ചെറിയ അടിപിടി, മല്പിടിത്തം, പോര്, ശണ്ഠ
- scuffle in Kannada
- ಹೊಡೆದಾಟ, ಬಡಿದಾಟ, ತುಮುಲ, ಕೈಕೈ ಮಿಲಾವಣೆ
Examples of scuffle in a sentence
- Their longstanding antagonism is manifested in frequent scuffles and shouting matches.
- Did those small creatures scuffling over leaves and roots hear the owls calling, and tremble in fear?
- The Jews and other prisoners shambled along, scuffling their feet, eyes downcast.
Synonyms of scuffle
- scuffle hoe
- Dutch hoe
- collinear hoe
- collineal hoe[Appendix:Glossary
- scarify
- cultivate
- grub
- weed
Forms of scuffle
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | scuffles |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | scuffles |
| present participle | scuffling |
| past participle | scuffled |
| past | scuffled |
Origin of scuffle
Possibly of North Germanic/Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish skuff (“a push”) and skuffa (“to push”), from the Proto-Germanic base *skuf- (skuƀ), from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ-, see also Lithuanian skùbti (“to hurry”), Polish skubać (“to pluck”), Albanian humb (“to lose”).
The noun is a borrowing from Dutch schoffel; the English verb arose via subsequent verbification within English but is also parallel with Dutch schoffelen.
Words formed from scuffle
Phrases with scuffle
Words that rhyme with scuffle
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about scuffle
- What does scuffle mean?
- Scuffle means a rough, disorderly fight or struggle at close quarters.
- What is scuffle in Tamil?
- Scuffle in Tamil is பூசல், சச்சரவு, அடிபிடி. See Scuffle meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is scuffle?
- Scuffle can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce scuffle?
- Scuffle is pronounced /ˈskʌfəl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of scuffle?
- The plural of scuffle is scuffles.
Words near scuffle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: scuffle (page history and authors); scuffle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); हातघाई (Marathi) (page history and authors); scuffle (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); scuffle (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); scuffle (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); scuffle (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: en-au-scuffle.ogg.
Cite this entry: “scuffle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/scuffle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.