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 ( rudd ) + -le

Example Sentences

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

Ducange, with the authorities quoted above, make its colour green; but the sinoper, or ruddle of commerce, is of a dark red or purplish hue.

From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Lower, Mark Antony

Page 22, line 20. rubrica fabrili: in English ruddle or reddle.

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

They daub their bodies with a red earth, like the ruddle used in England for marking sheep.

From Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836 Volume I. - Proceedings of the First Expedition, 1826-1830 by Fitzroy, Robert