corrugate

[kawr-uh-geyt, kor-, kawr-uh-git, -geyt, kor-]

verb (used with object)

corrugated, corrugating 

1. to draw or bend into folds or alternate furrows and ridges.

2. to wrinkle, as the skin or face.

3. Western U.S.,  to make irrigation ditches in (a field).

verb (used without object)

corrugated, corrugating 

1. to become corrugated; undergo corrugation.

adjective

1. corrugated; wrinkled; furrowed.

corrugate

verb

1. (usually tr) to fold or be folded into alternate furrows and ridges

adjective

1. folded into furrows and ridges; wrinkled

Other Word Forms

• corrugated adjective
• corrugator noun
• corrugation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of corrugate¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin corrūgātus, past participle of corrūgāre, equivalent to cor- “with, together” + rūg(āre) “to wrinkle” + -ātus past participle suffix; cor-, -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of corrugate¹

C18: from Latin corrūgāre, from rūga a wrinkle

Example Sentences

She rubbed clothes against a washboard with a surface of corrugated metal to help get the dirt out.

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Buildings in Whitehouse were destroyed or crumpled, with corrugated roofs strewn across the ground.

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Wind thrashes around the car park in the dim dawn light, rattling the corrugated supermarket shutters and sending discarded carrier bags billowing as rain tumbles on to the asphalt.

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From his window, he and his grandchildren have a clear view of the simple wooden shelter and corrugated iron shed put up by Israeli settlers that Ayman says are from the nearby settlement of Yitzhar.

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Neat rows of cottages with corrugated roofs and well-tended gardens stream past the car windows.

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Related Words

• crease 
• crumple 
• pucker 
• rumple 
• screw up 
• scrunch