border ruffian

American  

[bawr-der ruhf-ee-uhn] / ˈbɔr dər ˈrʌf i ən /

noun

border ruffians plural

1. U.S. History. Often, Border Ruffian. any of a group of criminal proslavery activists of Missouri who crossed into Kansas in order to intimidate, attack, rob, and sometimes murder opponents of slavery and to vote fraudulently in elections in an effort to defeat antislavery settlers there.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• border ruffians
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

border ruffian

The name of this noted border ruffian was known to him, likewise some of his deeds.

From The Sirdar's Oath A Tale of the North-West Frontier by Mitford, Bertram

The rugged hunter looked at the big malformed border ruffian with repulsion.

From Man Size by Raine, William MacLeod

The next day he reported that Watt had met a man who wore a slouch-hat, had unkempt red hair, and in general looked like a border ruffian.

From True Detective Stories From the archives of the Pinkertons by Moffett, Cleveland

Such was the Missouri "border ruffian" of 1854.

From The Middle Period 1817-1858 by Burgess, John William

The main features of Buchanan's administration to hasten the "irrepressible conflict" were the well-weighed words of the Chief Justice and the wild invasion of a border ruffian.

From Robert Toombs Statesman, Speaker, Soldier, Sage by Stovall, Pleasant A.