scuffle

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun disorderly fighting
  2. noun a hoe that is used by pushing rather than pulling
  3. noun an unceremonious and disorganized struggle

Etymology

Possibly of North Germanic/Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish skuff (“a push”) and skuffa (“to push”), from the Proto-Germanic base *skuf- (skuƀ), from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ-, see also Lithuanian skùbti (“to hurry”), Polish skubać (“to pluck”), Albanian humb (“to lose”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

hassle, tussle, dogfight, rough-and-tumble

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