Meaning & use
ruffing
Last updated
“ruffing” is a form of “ruff”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
noununcountabletechnical
In card games, the act of playing a trump card when you cannot follow suit.
Grammar: Used as a noun; often in phrases like 'ruffing' or 'a ruff'.
Patterns
- ruffing in bridge
- ruffing in whist
In bridge, ruffing is a key tactic to win tricks when you are void in a suit.
Her skillful ruffing helped her partner make the contract.
verbintransitivetechnical
Present participle of 'ruff': to play a trump card on a trick when you cannot follow suit.
Grammar: Used as a verb; often followed by 'in' or 'on'.
Patterns
- ruffing a trick
- ruffing in a suit
She is ruffing the next trick to gain an advantage.
He was ruffing throughout the game, catching the opponents off guard.
Common combinations
- ruffing in bridge
- Ruffing in bridge requires careful timing.
- ruffing a trick
- He won by ruffing a trick in the trump suit.
- cross-ruffing
- The pair used cross-ruffing to score many tricks.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trumping
- More general term for playing a trump card, not limited to when you cannot follow suit.
Word family
- ruff verb
- To play a trump card on a trick.
Commonly confused: ruffing or roughing?
ruffing vs roughing
Sounds similar but means 'behaving roughly' or 'making rough', not related to cards.
Practice
In bridge, what does 'ruffing' mean?
Choose one answer.
Ruffing is a specific play in card games where you use a trump to win a trick when you have no cards of the led suit. The other options are different actions in the game.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ruffing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.