ruse
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ruse¹
- /ɹuːz/ UK
- /ɹʉwz/ British, Southern, Standard
- /ɹuz/ US
- /ɹʉːz/ Australia, New Zealand
- /ɾɪu̯z/ Wales
- /ɾʉz/ Scotland
- [ɾʉːz] Scotland
- /ɻʉz/ Northern Ireland
Sounds like roos, rues · Rhymes with -uːz
Where it comes from
From Middle English rūse (“evasive movements of a pursued animal; circuitous course taken by a hunter to pursue a game animal”), from Old French rëuse, ruse (“evasive movements of a pursued animal; trickery”) (modern French ruse (“trick, ruse; cunning, guile”)), from ruser (“to use cunning, to be crafty, beguile”), possibly from Latin rursus (“backward; on the contrary; again, in return”) or Latin recūsāre, from recūsō (“to decline, refuse; to object to, protest, reject”). Doublet of recuse and rouse in the latter case.
The verb is derived from the noun. Compare Middle French ruser (“to use cunning, to be crafty, beguile”); see further above.
noun ruses
- A turning or doubling back, especially of animals to get out of the way of hunting dogs. The boar was evidently most averse to leave the field in which he had spent so may pleasant hours of uninterrupted rest; […] He turned sharply to one flank; he stopped dead, and went away in the opposite direction as he heard the hunters gallop past; every ruse he tried, but tried in vain.
- An action intended to deceive; a trick. Near-synonyms: ploy, stratagem, artifice
- Cunning, guile, trickery. [H]e [Bertrand du Guesclin] had great natural cunning, that half-savage quality, was full of ruse and trick in war, he was contemptuous towards the high noblesse, but gentle to the poor, and generous to his friends.
verb ruses · rusing · rused
- To deceive or trick using a ruse. Anyway, no man can escape the woman he considers too much rused for him: tear her down or run away toward her if he can't meet her head-and-hind on.
- Of an animal: to turn or double back to elude hunters or their hunting dogs. And he [the hart] fleeth then mightily and far from the hounds, that is to say he hath gone a great way from them, then he will go into the stank, and will soil therein once or twice in all the stank and then he will come out again by the same way that he went in, and then he shall ruse again the sa
Ruse²
- /ˈɹuːseɪ/
proper noun Rousse · Rouse
- A suburb of Sydney in the Campbelltown council area, New South Wales, Australia.
- A city in northeastern Bulgaria.
- A municipality of Ruse Province, Bulgaria.
- A province in Bulgaria.
Ruse³
- /ˈɹuːz/
Where it comes from
* As an English surname, variant of Rouse, Rowse.
* As a German surname, variant of Reuss, Reusse.
* As a Czech surname, Americanized from Rus (“Russian”).
proper noun
- A surname.
- A suburb in the City of Campbelltown, near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, named after James Ruse.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: artifice, device, dodge, sleight, cunning, gimmick, guile, trickery, trick, stratagem, subterfuge, deception, pretext, machination, ploy, ingenuity
Translations
Every language
noun turning or doubling back
| Español | escaramuza |
|---|---|
| Русский | скидка skidka |
noun action intended to deceive — see also trick
| Español | asechanza, artimaña, trácala, truco, zancadilla, treta |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 기계 gigye |
| 日本語 | 計略 keiryaku |
| 中文 | 鬼計 /鬼计 guǐjì, 伎倆 /伎俩 jìliǎng, 騙術 /骗术 piànshù, 玄虛 /玄虚 xuánxū |
| हिन्दी | छल chal, फ़रेब fareb |
| Português | ardil, artimanha, lábia, treta, truque, estrangeirinha |
| Français | ruse, finasserie |
| Deutsch | Kniff, List, Finte |
| Italiano | trucco |
| Română | șmecherie |
| Русский | кунштю́к kunštjúk, нако́лка nakólka, уло́вка ulóvka, ухищре́ние uxiščrénije, хи́трость xítrostʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | mẹo |
| العربية | حِيلَة ḥīla |
| עברית | תַּחְבּוּלָה taḥbulá |
noun guile, trickery
| Español | astucia |
|---|---|
| Português | maracutaia |
| Français | ruse |
| Deutsch | Betrügerei, Trick, Ablenkungsmanöver, Täuschungsmanöver |
Talk about this word "ruse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ruse. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. ruse. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ruse "ruse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ruse.Cite this
@misc{ruse_2026,
title = {ruse},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ruse},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
