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ruffmans. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ruffmans, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ruffmans in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ruffmans you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From rough + -mans.
Noun
ruffmans (uncountable)
- (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Woods, hedges or bushes.
1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Arthur Henry Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton, volume 4, published 1885, act 5, scene 1, pages 128–129:Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you.
1994, Amanda Scott, Dangerous Illusions, →ISBN:Happen we seen there was a damber in the ruffmans, and since we'd no yen t' deck the chates, we'd ha' binged a wast but for the rhino we was promised.
References
- [Francis Grose] (1788) “Ruffmans”, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd edition, London: S. Hooper, , →OCLC.
- Albert Barrère and Charles G Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890) “ruffmans”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant , volume II (L–Z), Edinburgh: The Ballantyne Press, →OCLC, page 191.
- John S Farmer; W E Henley, compilers (1903) “ruffmans”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. , volume VI, Harrison and Sons] , →OCLC, pages 71–72.