ruffern.1
/ˈrʌfə/, U.S. /ˈrəfər/ Cards.
1. A person who ruffs at cards. rare.Originally in the game of ruff (ruff n.4 1); later in Whist and Bridge.
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1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Ronfatóre,..a ruffer or trumper at cardes.
1901 ‘Hellespont’ Laws & Princ. Bridge 135 He will at once draw the trumps of the intending ruffer, and render him harmless.
1999 Spectator (Hamilton, Ont.) (Nexis) 10 July c11 When a defender's cuff forces an overruff, which promotes a trump trick, usually for the ruffer's partner.
2. Chiefly Whist and Bridge. A card that ruffs or trumps another. Also: = ruffing trick n. at ruffing n.1 Compounds 2.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > card or cards > [noun] > trump cards
triumph1563
trump1563
ruff1598
five-finger1611
honour1674
high1793
low1818
trumph1819
sancho1875
Dix1908
ruffer1934
1934 Daily Courier (Connellsville, Pa.) 18 Sept. 2/7 East now returned the spade 7, not to kill a ruffer in Dummy, but to destroy an entry to Declarer's hand.
1936 E. Culbertson Contract Bridge Compl. xxxix. 435 A trick made by ruffing a losing card with an otherwise worthless card of the trump suit is called a ruffer.
1974 Country Life 28 Feb. 453/3 This not only deprives South of a diamond ruff, but the trump trick comes back if South uses dummy's Ten as a ruffer.
1975 Country Life 30 Jan. 289/3 The right way is to use his own trumps as ruffers.
1999 Washington Post (Nexis) 27 Feb. c13 Today's declarer won the first trump with the nine, saving dummy's high trumps for ruffers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
ruffern.2
/ˈrʌfə/, U.S. /ˈrəfər/ Now historical and rare.
A device for ‘ruffing’ flax, consisting of a board studded with spikes or teeth; = rougher n.1 1b.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > treating or processing flax, hemp, or jute > [noun] > heckling > implement for
hatchelc1300
hecklea1425
hacklec1485
hetch1598
flax-comb1611
hack1658
gill1819
flax-hackle1825
rougher1828
ruffer1853
1853 A. Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) I. 741 The pins..are much closer placed than those of the ruffer.
1876 W. T. Charley in G. P. Bevan Brit. Manufacturing Industries V. 71 The first tool used by the workman is the ‘ruffer’, which is a rude kind of comb, consisting of a tin-covered stock of wood.
1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 665/1 The heckler..dashes the fibre into the teeth or needles of the rougher or ‘ruffer’ heckle. The rougher is a board plated with tin [etc.].
1971 H. Mathews Sinking of Odradek Stadium in Paris Rev. Summer 51 At the near end of the shop, a hackler took rough stricks of swingled flax and dashed them into the hackle-teeth of a small ruffer.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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