ruddle

American  

[ruhd-l] / ˈrʌd l /

noun

1. a red variety of ocher, used for marking sheep, coloring, etc.

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verb (used with object)

ruddled, ruddling

1. to mark or color with ruddle.

ruddle British  

/ ˈrʌdəl /

noun

1. a red ochre, used esp to mark sheep

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verb

1. (tr) to mark (sheep) with ruddle

Other Word Forms

• unruddled
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ruddle

1530–40; dial. rud ( see rudd) + -le

Example Sentences

Jud turn’d rahnd an gurned at th’ frunt o’ th’ show wi’ his faace aw ruddle.

From English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day by Skeat, Walter W. (Walter William)

Lemnian, lem′ni-an, adj. pertaining to Lemnos in the �gean Sea.—Lemnian earth, cimolite; Lemnian ruddle, a red chalk found in Lemnos.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

Lemnian earth, ruddle, and very many minerals do this, and yet they are fatuously said to attract.

From On the magnet, magnetick bodies also, and on the great magnet the earth a new physiology, demonstrated by many arguments & experiments by Gilbert, William

For my share of disguising, I now rubbed together some ruddle and dry soil, and the mixture gave a necessary touch of coarseness to her hands.

From The Yeoman Adventurer by Gough, George W.

The distorted gibbous disk lifted itself above the edge—red as ruddle and enlarged by the refraction: a giant coppery moon, weird and magical.

From Greene Ferne Farm by Jefferies, Richard