Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Having a healthy, reddish color.
- adjective Reddish; rosy.
- adjective Chiefly British Slang Used as an intensive.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make red or ruddy.
- Of a red color; reddish; inclining to red; rosy: as, a ruddy blaze; ruddy clouds; ruddy gold; ruddy cheeks.
- Glowing; cheery; bright.
- Synonyms Ruddy, Rubicund, Rosy. Ruddy indicates a fresh and healthy red upon the human skin, or, by extension, upon skies, etc. Rubicund indicates an unnatural red in the face or some part of it, as the cheeks or the nose; it is especially associated with high living or intemperance in drink. Rosy generally indicates a charming, blooming red: as, rosy cheeks; but it is occasionally used in a bad sense.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb rare To make ruddy.
- adjective Of a red color; red, or reddish.
- adjective Of a lively flesh color, or the color of the human skin in high health.
- adjective (Zoöl.) an American duck (
Erismatura rubida ) having a broad bill and a wedge-shaped tail composed of stiff, sharp feathers. The adult male is rich brownish red on the back, sides, and neck, black on the top of the head, nape, wings, and tail, and white on the cheeks. The female and young male are dull brown mixed with blackish on the back; grayish below. Called alsodunbird ,dundiver ,ruddy diver ,stifftail ,spinetail ,hardhead ,sleepy duck ,fool duck ,spoonbill , etc. - adjective (Zoöl.) the sanderling.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Reddish in color, especially of theface ,fire , orsky . - adjective UK, slang A mild intensifier.
- noun informal
ruddy duck - verb transitive To make reddish in colour.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life
- adjective of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Over The Line | Tagged: australian media, censorship, freedom, freedom of speech, internet censorship, kevin ruddy fool, politics | Leave a Comment »
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I get by on a certain Welsh ruddy charm, and the rest is conversation.
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I get by on a certain Welsh ruddy charm, and the rest is conversation.
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The title was also changed in deference to Victorian decorum: the primmer suburban class was deterred by "ruddy" - considered a cuss word close to the obscenity of "bloody" - so Ruddygore became Ruddigore, under which name it went on to achieve a solidly profitable run of 288 performances.
Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph 2010
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Most of them are white -, orange -, and lime-winged sulphurs, but there are also tens of thousands of the small brown nymphalids known as ruddy daggerwings.
The Gasping Forest Shoumatoff, Alex 2007
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His face classified as ruddy, his cheekbones hollow.
SEASONS OF GOLD STEF ANN HOLM 1992
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His face is described as ruddy, and he is said to have possessed many qualities which are also ascribed to Satan.
Welsh Folk-Lore a Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales Elias Owen
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They call the ruddy tinge over the forehead "the cross upon crutches"; for long ago, they say, a great gipsy hero had that mark upon his brow in lines of fire; and to this day all people with a fiery lock of hair, they believe, bring luck to them.
Jim Davis John Masefield 1922
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There is another species of shieldrake which is sometimes called the ruddy goose, and which has a glossy black ring round its neck and a reddish breast.
The Lady's Country Companion: or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally Jane 1845
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I love the colour of those crab apples, the ones near me are a kind of ruddy green like a pippin.
Crab apple picking Gumbo Lily 2007
hernesheir commented on the word ruddy
Cubrian term for raddle.
February 18, 2010
100000232338334 commented on the word ruddy
"There was blood on his face, and he looked pinker than I'd ever seen him, ruddy with health." -Club Dead, by Charlaine Harris
February 5, 2011