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rough - 10 dictionary results

rough

  [ruhf] adjective, -er, -est, noun, adverb, verb
Use rough in a Sentence
–adjective
1. having a coarse or uneven surface, as from projections, irregularities, or breaks; not smooth: rough, red hands; a rough road.
2. shaggy or coarse: a dog with a rough coat.
3. (of an uninhabited region or large land area) steep or uneven and covered with high grass, brush, trees, stones, etc.: to hunt over rough country.
4. acting with or characterized by violence: Boxing is a rough sport.
5. characterized by unnecessary violence or infractions of the rules: It was a rough prize fight.
6. violently disturbed or agitated; turbulent, as water or the air: a rough sea.
7. having a violently irregular motion; uncomfortably or dangerously uneven: The plane had a rough flight in the storm.
8. stormy or tempestuous, as wind or weather.
9. sharp or harsh: a rough temper.
10. unmannerly or rude: his rough and churlish manner; They exchanged rough words.
11. disorderly or riotous: a rough mob.
12. difficult or unpleasant: to have a rough time of it.
13. harsh to the ear; grating or jarring, as sounds.
14. harsh to the taste; sharp or astringent: a rough wine.
15. coarse, as food.
16. lacking culture or refinement: a rough, countrified manner.
17. without refinements, luxuries, or ordinary comforts or conveniences: rough camping.
18. requiring exertion or strength rather than intelligence or skill: rough manual labor.
19. not elaborated, perfected, or corrected; unpolished, as language, verse, or style: a rough draft.
20. made or done without any attempt at exactness, completeness, or thoroughness; approximate or tentative: a rough guess.
21. crude, unwrought, nonprocessed, or unprepared: rough rice.
22. Phonetics. uttered with aspiration; having the sound of h; aspirated.
–noun
23. something that is rough, esp. rough ground.
24. Golf. any part of the course bordering the fairway on which the grass, weeds, etc., are not trimmed.
25. the unpleasant or difficult part of anything.
26. anything in its crude or preliminary form, as a drawing.
27. Chiefly British. a rowdy; ruffian.
–adverb
28. in a rough manner; roughly.
–verb (used with object)
29. to make rough; roughen.
30. to give a beating to, manhandle, or subject to physical violence (often fol. by up): The mob roughed up the speaker.
31. to subject to some rough, preliminary process of working or preparation (often fol. by down, off, or out): to rough off boards.
32. to sketch roughly or in outline (often fol. by in or out): to rough out a diagram; to rough in the conversation of a novel.
33. Sports. to subject (a player on the opposing team) to unnecessary physical abuse, as in blocking or tackling: The team was penalized 15 yards for roughing the kicker.
–verb (used without object)
34. to become rough, as a surface.
35. to behave roughly.
—Idioms
36. in the rough, in a rough, crude, or unfinished state: The country has an exciting potential, but civilization there is still in the rough.
37. rough it, to live without the customary comforts or conveniences; endure rugged conditions: We really roughed it on our fishing trip.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME (adj. and n.); OE rūh (adj.); c. D ruig, G rauh

Related forms:
roughly, adverb
roughness, noun

Synonyms:
1. irregular, jagged, bumpy, craggy. 2. hairy, bristly. 13. noisy, cacophonous, raucous. 16. impolite, uncivil, unpolished, rude.

Antonyms:
1. smooth, even, regular.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To rough
rough   (rŭf)   
adj.   rough·er, rough·est
  1. Having a surface marked by irregularities, protuberances, or ridges; not smooth.
  2. Coarse or shaggy to the touch: a rough scratchy blanket.
    1. Difficult to travel over or through: the rough terrain of the highlands.
    2. Characterized by violent motion; turbulent: rough waters.
    3. Difficult to endure or live through, especially because of harsh or inclement weather: a rough winter.
    4. Unpleasant or difficult: had a rough time during the exam.
    5. Boisterous, unruly, uncouth, or rowdy: ran with a rough crowd.
    6. Lacking polish or finesse: rough manners.
    1. Boisterous, unruly, uncouth, or rowdy: ran with a rough crowd.
    2. Lacking polish or finesse: rough manners.
  5. Characterized by carelessness or force, as in manipulating: broke the crystal through rough handling.
  6. Harsh to the ear: a rough raspy sound.
  7. Being in a natural state: rough diamonds.
  8. Not perfected, completed, or fully detailed: a rough drawing; rough carpentry.
n.  
    1. Rugged overgrown terrain.
    2. Sports The part of a golf course left unmowed and uncultivated.
  2. The difficult or disagreeable aspect, part, or side: observed politics in the rough when working as an intern on Capitol Hill.
  3. Something in an unfinished or hastily worked-out state.
  4. A crude unmannered person; a rowdy.
tr.v.   roughed, rough·ing, roughs
    1. To treat roughly or with physical violence: roughed up his opponent.
    2. Sports To treat (an opposing player) with unnecessary roughness, often in violation of the rules: was ejected from the game for roughing the passer.
  2. To prepare or indicate in an unfinished form: rough out a house plan.
adv.  In a rough manner; roughly: The engine began to run rough and faltered.

[Middle English, from Old English rūh.]
rough'er n., rough'ly adv., rough'ness n.
Synonyms: These adjectives apply to what is not smooth but has a coarse, irregular surface. Rough describes something that to the sight or touch has inequalities, as projections or ridges: rough bark; rough, chapped hands.
Something harsh is unpleasantly rough, discordant, or grating: harsh burlap; a harsh voice.
Jagged refers to an edge or surface with irregular projections and indentations: a jagged piece of glass.
Rugged can apply to land surfaces characterized by irregular, often steep rises and slopes: rugged countryside.
Scabrous means rough and scaly to the touch: granular, scabrous skin.
Uneven describes lines or surfaces of which some parts are not level with others: uneven ground; uneven handwriting. See Also Synonyms at rude.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Rough

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. [root] 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

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

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

Sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats. --Sir W. Scott.

Rough

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : rough
Spanish: áspero,
German: rauh,
Japanese: 粗い
More Translations »

rough  (adj.)
O.E. ruh "rough, untrimmed, uncultivated," from W.Gmc. *rukhwaz "shaggy, hairy, rough" (cf. M.Du. ruuch, Du. ruig, O.H.G. ruher, Ger. rauh), from P.Gmc. *rukhaz. The original -gh- sound was guttural, as in Scottish loch. Sense of "approximate" is first recorded 1607. The noun meaning "broken ground" is from 1480 (phrase in the rough first recorded 1823); specific sense in golf is from 1901. Noun meaning "a rowdy" is first attested 1837. Rough draft is from 1699. Rough-and-ready is from 1810, originally military; rough-and-tumble (1810) is from the prize ring; .

rough  (v.)
1483, from rough (adj.), q.v. Phrase rough it (1768) is originally nautical; to rough (someone) up is from 1868. The U.S. football penalty roughing was originally a term from boxing (1866).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: rough
Pronunciation: 'r&f
Function: adjective
: having a broken, uneven, or bumpy surface; specifically : forming or beingrough colonies usually made up of organisms that form chains or filaments and tend to marked decrease in capsule formation and virulence —used of dissociated strains of bacteria; —compareSMOOTH
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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rough

In addition to the idioms beginning with rough, also see diamond in the rough; ride roughshod over; take the rough with the smooth; when the going gets rough.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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