ruck

noun

1. A throng or crowd of people or things; a mass, a pack.

   “Dandolo was constantly in the ditch, sometimes lying with his side against the bank, and had now been so hustled and driven that, had he been on the other side, he would have had no breath left to carry his rider, even in the ruck of the hunt.”

2. In Australian rules football
3. In Australian rules football
4. (archaic)In Australian rules football
5. In Australian rules football
6. The situation formed when a player carrying the ball is brought to the ground and one or more members of each side are engaged above the ball, trying to win possession of it; a loose scrum.
7. The common mass of people or things; the ordinary ranks.

   “‘Here and there among cats one comes across an outstanding superior intellect, just as one does among the ruck of human beings [...].’”

8. (colloquial)An argument or fight.

   “Your worth as a couple is not down to how passionate your rucks are—I said rucks—and how frantic the making-up sex is.”

9. A crease, a wrinkle, a pucker, as on fabric.
10. (alt-of, obsolete)Obsolete form of roc.

    “The Henry Royall [a ship], at her parting thence, / Like the Huge Ruck from Gillingham that flevv: […]”

11. (especially, slang)A rucksack; a large backpack.

    “Shah-e-Kot Valley, Afghanistan. March 2002. I strained to see over the soldiers in front of me. They were struggling to shuffle off the bird as quickly as they could. I dragged my ruck across the floor of the aircraft in my right hand.”

    “First of all – a “ruck” is nothing more than a backpack. So to "ruck march" is to carry a heavy duty backpack on a hike (loaded with gear and supplies).”

    “Rocky was only five foot six and skinny as a February coyote, but he could hump an eighty pound ruck across twenty mountain miles […]”

12. A small heifer.

verb

1. (obsolete, transitive)To act as a ruck in a stoppage in Australian rules football.
2. (transitive)To contest the possession of the ball in a ruck.
3. (transitive)To crease or fold.

   “Puzzle begged very hard to have the lion-skin taken off him. He said it was too hot and the way it was rucked up on his back was uncomfortable […]”

   “"What, exactly, happened down cellar?" Appleyard asked, straightening with his heel a rucked rug.”

   “She wore long dangling earrings faced with mirrors, and white Bermuda shorts rucked back to reveal knees and thighs like waxed maple.”

   “The army had a shooting range up there hidden in the chestnut forests, that was all; like a passing plane rucking the fabric of perfect silence, the shots brought all that shatters continuity in life, the violence of emotions, the trajectories of demands and contests of will.”

4. (intransitive)To become creased or folded.

   “"Will you come over now and try on your dress?" Ally asked, looking at her with wistful admiration. "I want to be sure the sleeves don't ruck up the same as they did yesterday."”

5. (UK, dialectal, obsolete)To cower or huddle together; to squat; to sit, as a hen on eggs.

   “Bot now thei rucken in here nest And resten as hem liketh best.”

   “The Rauen rook'd her on the Chimnies top, And chatt'ring Pies in dismall Discords sung.”

6. To carry a backpack while hiking or marching.

   “He started at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday as he began rucking to church. He changed his clothes, went to church and then began rucking again. That distance totaled about nine miles. Rucking is hiking with a military style backpack, filled with weight.”

name

1. A surname from German.