scuffle

plural scuffles

1. A rough, disorderly fight or struggle at close quarters.

   It appears the Company had received news that one of their captains had been killed in a scuffle with the natives.

   1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 198

   2 more examples

   The Dog leaps upon the Serpent, and Tears it to Pieces; but in the Scuffle the Cradle happen'd to be Overturn'd: […]

   1692, Roger L'Estrange, “Fab[le] CCCCLXX. A Farmer and His Servant.”, in Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: With Morals and Reflexions, London: Printed for R[ichard] Sare, T. Sawbridge, B. Took, M[atthew] Gillyflower, A. & J. Churchil, and J[oseph] Hindmarsh, →OCLC; 2nd corrected and amended edition, London: Printed for R[ichard] Sare, B. Took, M[atthew] Gillyflower, A. & J. Churchil, J[oseph] Hindmarsh, and G[eorge] Sawbridge, 1694, →OCLC, page 435

   Fights ensued as many England supporters attempted to retreat before some stewards moved in. Intermittent scuffles continued to break out until the section of the crowd where the trouble started was vacated.

   2016 June 11, Phil McNulty, “England 1–1 Russia”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 13 Jun 2016

2. slangPoverty; struggle.

   But even on the scuffle / The cleaner's press was in my jeans

   1975, Joni Mitchell, “The Boho Dance”, in The Hissing of Summer Lawns

3. archaicA child's pinafore or bib.

present singular third person scuffles · participle present scuffling · participle past scuffled · past scuffled

1. intransitiveTo fight or struggle confusedly at close quarters.

   Certainly a gallant man had rather fight to great diſadvantages for number and place in the field in an orderly way, then ſcuffle with an undiſciplined rabble.

   1648, attributed to Charles I of England, Εἰκὼν Βασιλική [Eikōn Basilikē = Royal Portrait]. The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Maiestie, in His Solitvdes and Svfferings, [London?]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 15

2. intransitiveTo walk with a shuffling gait.

   But shiftings and readjustments ensued, as they are sure to do with a walking-party. Cope presently found himself scuffling through the thin grass and the briery thickets alongside the young business-man.

   1919, Henry B[lake] Fuller, “Cope at His House Party”, in Bertram Cope’s Year: A Novel, Chicago, Ill.: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The Alderbrink Press, →OCLC, page 94

3. slangTo make a living with difficulty, getting by on a low income, to struggle financially.

   Once a good friend of mine, a fine hoofer who was having trouble getting bookings, ran up to that tree, gave it a big smack, and yelled “Lawd please make me a pimp, any kind of a pimp, long as I’m pimpin’. I’m tired of scufflin’ and my feet are too long outa work.”

   1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Tell a Green Man Something”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 3 (1928–1935: The Big Apple), page 208

plural scuffles

1. A type of hoe, manipulated by both pushing and pulling, with a sharp blade parallel with the worked surface; an instance of this type.

   Near-synonyms: collinear hoe, collineal hoe (loosely synonymous)

   Synonyms: scuffle hoe, Dutch hoe, collinear hoe, collineal hoe[Appendix:Glossary

present singular third person scuffles · participle present scuffling · participle past scuffled · past scuffled

1. agricultureTo work the soil surface for weeding, etc.

   Near-synonyms: (sometimes synonymous) scarify, cultivate, grub; weed

   Synonyms: scarify, cultivate, grub, weed