Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RUG, n. [D. ruig, G. rauch, rough, hairy, shaggy; Sw. rugg, entangled hair; ruggig, rugged, shaggy. This coincides with Dan. rug, W. rhyg, rye, that is, rough; W. rhug, something abounding with points. In W. brycan is a rug, a clog, a brogue for the feet, a covering. This belongs to the great family of rough, L. ruga, raucus.]

1. A coarse nappy woolen cloth used for a bed cover, and in modern times particularly, for covering the carpet before a fire-place. This name was formerly given to a coarse kind of frieze used for winter garments, and it may be that the poor in some countries still wear it. But in America, I believe the name is applied only to a bed cover for ordinary beds, and to a covering before a fire-place.
2. A rough, woolly or shaggy dog.

RUG'GED, a. [from the root of rug, rough, – which see.]

1. Rough; full of asperities on the surface; broken into sharp or irregular points or crags, or otherwise uneven; as, a rugged mountain; a rugged road.
2. Uneven; not neat or regular. His well proportion'd beard made rough and rugged. Shak.
3. Rough in temper; harsh; hard; crabbed; austere. South.
4. Stormy; turbulent; tempestuous; as, rugged weather; a rugged season.
5. Rough to the ear; harsh; grating; as, a rugged verse in poetry; rugged prose. Dryden.
6. Sour; surly; frowning; wrinkled; as, rugged looks.
7. Violent; rude; boisterous. Hudibras.
8. Rough; shaggy; as, a rugged bear. Fairfax.
9. In botany, scabrous; rough with tubercles or stiff points; or as a leaf or stem. Martyn.

RUG'GED-LY, adv.

In a rough or rugged manner.

RUG'GED-NESS, n.

1. The quality or state of being rugged; a roughness; asperity of surface; as, the ruggedness of land or of roads.
2. Roughness of temper; harshness; surliness.
3. Coarseness; rudeness of manners.
4. Storminess; boisterousness; as of a season.

RUG'-GOWN-ED, a.

Wearing a coarse gown or rug. – Beaum.

RUG'IN, n.

A nappy cloth. [Not used.] – Wiseman.

RU'GINE, n. [Fr.]

A surgeon's rasp. – Sharp.

RU'GOSE, or RU'GOUS, a. [L. rugosus, from ruga, a wrinkle.]

1. Wrinkled; full of wrinkles. – Wiseman.
2. In botany, a rugose leaf is when the veins are more contracted than the disk, so that the latter rises into little inequalities, as in sage, primrose, cowslip, &c. – Martyn. Smith.

RU-GOS'I-TY, n.

A state of being wrinkled. [Little used.] Smith.

RU'IN, n. [Fr. ruine, from L. and Sp. ruina; It. ruina and rovina; from L. ruo, to fall, to rush down; W. rhewin, a sudden glide, slip or fall, ruin; rhew, something slippery or smooth, ice, frost; rheu, to move or be active; rhêb, a running off; rhêbyz, a destroyer. Perhaps the latter words are of a different family.]

1. Destruction; fall; overthrow; defeat; that change of any thing which destroys it, or entirely defeats its object, or unfits it for use; as, the ruin of a house; the ruin of a ship or an army; the ruin of a constitution of government; the ruin of health; the ruin of commerce; the ruin of public or private happiness; the ruin of a project.
2. Mischief; bane; that which destroys. The errors of young men are the ruin of business. – Bacon.
3. Ruin, more generally ruins, the remains of a decayed or demolished city, house, fortress, or any work of art or other thing; as, the ruins of Balbec, Palmyra or Persepolis; the ruins of a wall; a castle in ruins. The labor of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character. – Buckminster.
4. The decayed or enfeebled remains of a natural object; as, the venerable old man presents a great mind in ruins.
5. The cause of destruction. They were the ruin of him and of all Israel. – 2 Chron. xxviii.

RU'IN, v.i.

1. To fall into ruins. Milton.
2. To run to ruin; to fall into decay or be dilapidated. Though he his house of polish'd marble build, / Yet shall it ruin like the moth's frail cell. Sandys.
3. To be reduced; to be brought to poverty or misery. If we are idle, and disturb the industrious in their business, we shall ruin the faster. Locke. Note. This intransitive use of the verb is now unusual.

RU'IN, v.t. [Fr. ruiner.]

1. To demolish; to pull down, burn, or otherwise destroy; as, to ruin a city or an edifice.
2. To subvert; to destroy; as, to ruin a state or government.
3. To destroy; to bring to an end; as, to ruin commerce or manufactures.
4. To destroy in any manner; as, to ruin health or happiness; to ruin reputation.
5. To counteract; to defeat; as, to ruin a plan or project.
6. To deprive of felicity or fortune. By thee rais'd I ruin all my foes. Milton. Grace with a nod, and ruin with a frown. Dryden.
7. To impoverish; as, to be ruined by speculation. The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. Franklin.
8. To bring to everlasting misery; as, to ruin the soul.

RU'IN-ATE, v.t.

To demolish; to subvert; to destroy; to reduce to poverty. [This word is ill formed and happily is become obsolete.]

RU-IN-A'TION, n.

Subversion; overthrow; demolition. [Inelegant and obsolete.]

RU'IN-ED, pp.

Demolished; destroyed; subverted; reduced to poverty; undone.

RU'IN-ER, n.

One that ruins or destroys. Chapman.

RU'IN-I-FORM, a. [L. ruina and form.]

Having the appearance of ruins, or the ruins of houses. Certain minerals are said to be ruiniform.

RU'IN-ING, ppr.

Demolishing; subverting; destroying; reducing to poverty; bringing to endless misery.

RU'IN-OUS, a. [L. ruinosus; Fr. ruineux.]

1. Fallen to ruin; entirely decayed; demolished; dilapidated; as, an edifice, bridge or wall in a ruinous state.
2. Destructive; baneful; pernicious; bringing or tending to bring certain ruin. Who can describe the ruinous practice of intemperance?
3. Composed of ruins; consisting in ruins; as, a ruinous heap. Is. xvii.

RU'IN-OUS-LY, adv.

In a ruinous manner; destructively.

RU'IN-OUS-NESS, n.

A ruinous state or quality

RULE, n. [W. rheol; Arm. reol; Sax. regol, reogol; Sw. Dan. G. and D. regel; Fr. regle; Sp. regla; Port. regoa, regra; It. regola; L. regula, from rego, to govern, that is, to stretch, strain or make straight. I suppose the Welsh rheol to be a contracted word.]

1. Government; sway; empire; control; supreme command or authority. A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame. Prov. xvii. And his stern rule the groaning land obey'd. Pope.
2. That which is established as a principle, standard or directory; that by which any thing is to be adjusted or regulated, or to which it is to be conformed; that which is settled by authority or custom for guidance and direction. Thus a statute or law is a rule of civil conduct; a canon is a rule of ecclesiastical government; the precept or command of a father, is a rule of action or obedience to children; precedents in law are rules of decision to judges; maxims and customs furnish rules for regulating our social opinions and manners. The laws of God are rules for directing us in life, paramount to all others. A rule which you do not apply, is no rule at all. J. M. Mason.
3. An instrument by which lines are drawn. A judicious artist will use his eye, but he will trust only to his rule. South.
4. Established mode or course of proceeding prescribed in private life. Every man should have some fixed rules for managing his own affairs.
5. In literature, a maxim, canon or precept to be observed in any art or science. Encyc.
6. In monasteries, corporations or societies, a law or regulation to be observed by the society and its particular members.
7. In courts, rules are the determinations and orders of court, to be observed by its officers in conducting the business of the court.
8. In arithmetic and algebra, a determinate mode prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result.
9. In grammar, an established form of construction in a particular class of words; or the expression of that form in words. Thus it is a rule in English, that s or es, added to a noun in the singular number, forms the plural of that noun; but man forms its plural men, and is an exception to the rule. Rule of three, is that rule of arithmetic which directs, when three terms are given, how to find a fourth, which shall have the same ratio to the third term, as the second has to the first.

RULE, v.i.

To have power or command; to exercise supreme authority. By me princes rule. Prov. viii. It is often followed by over. They shall rule over their oppressors. Is. xiv. We subdue and rule aver all other creatures. Ray.

RULE, v.t.

1. To govern; to control the will and actions of others, either by arbitrary power and authority, or by established laws. The emperors of the East rule their subjects without the restraints of a constitution. In limited governments, men are ruled by known laws. If a man know not how to rule his own house, now shall he take care of the church of God? 1 Tim. iii.
2. To govern the movements of things; to conduct; to manage; to control. That God rules the world he has created, is a fundamental article of belief.
3. To manage; to conduct, in almost any manner.
4. To settle as by a rule. That's a ruled case with the schoolmen. Atterbury.
5. To mark with lines by a ruler; as, to rule a blank book.
6. To establish by decree or decision; to determine; as a court.

RUL-ED, pp.

Governed; controlled; conducted; managed; established by decision.