rough·house | \ ˈrəf-ˌhau̇s 
\
\Definition of roughhouse
(Entry 1 of 2)
: violence or rough boisterous play
roughhouse
verbrough·house | \ ˈrəf-ˌhau̇s , -ˌhau̇z \
, -ˌhau̇z \roughhoused; roughhousing
Definition of roughhouse (Entry 2 of 2)
: to treat in a boisterously rough manner
: to engage in roughhouse
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Synonyms for roughhouse
Synonyms: Noun
- buffoonery,
- clownery,
- clowning,
- foolery,
- high jinks
- (also hijinks),
- horseplay,
- horsing around,
- monkey business,
- monkeying,
- monkeyshine(s),
- roughhousing,
- shenanigan(s),
- skylarking,
- slapstick,
- tomfoolery
Examples of roughhouse in a Sentence
Noun
their parents simply wouldn't tolerate any roughhouse in the living room Verb
The kids were roughhousing in the living room.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Chewy orecchiette roughhouse with big hunks of sausage and broccolini, enrobed in a rich goat cheese fonduta.
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Dominic Armato, azcentral, "Fellow Osteria in Scottsdale is too interesting to ignore but too inconsistent to embrace," 16 July 2019 In one such glimpse of sublimity, a group of young Native American rodeo riders drink beer, roughhouse, and sing songs in the immensity of the Badlands surrounding the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in South Dakota.
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Peter Keough, BostonGlobe.com, "‘The Rider’: What cinema is capable of at its best," 25 Apr. 2018 There’s also a chance McGregor flusters him with the same kind of roughhouse tactics that worked for Marcos Maidana in their first fight.
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Tim Dahlberg, The Seattle Times, "Floyd Mayweather is money, and this should be easy money," 24 Aug. 2017 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb From ABC News, video shows some bear cubs roughhousing at a wildlife park in South Dakota.
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Cliff Pinckard, cleveland, "Has the Indians’ Francisco Lindor worn socks with sandals? 5 feel-good items to make you smile," 22 May 2020 Three police recruits have resigned in the wake of internal affairs investigations into their roles in the serious injury of a fellow student during roughhousing in a dorm at the state’s basic training academy.
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oregonlive, "3 police recruits resign for their roles in serious injury of fellow student at Oregon’s basic police academy," 24 Apr. 2020 The boys cracked jokes, roughhoused and argued about who was the cutest girl in the shelter.
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Paulina Villegas, New York Times, "Detentions of Child Migrants at the U.S. Border Has Surged to Record Levels," 29 Oct. 2019 That summer, Boulger broke his arm while roughhousing with friends, forcing him out of the contact-heavy sports.
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BostonGlobe.com, "You're using a browser set to private or incognito mode.," 22 Sep. 2019 Family photos depict their father cuddling and roughhousing with this sons, and posing in front of a fire truck with a young Leonard.
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Anne Barnard, New York Times, "Children of 9/11, Following Their Fathers’ Last Footsteps," 24 Sep. 2019 There are shots of children at play, on the beach, on a farm, or roughhousing in a schoolyard but the incidents related are like those from a nightmare or fairy tale.
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Peter Keough, BostonGlobe.com, "Doc Talk: A mother’s tale, a choral tour, a Patrick Swayze bio," 21 Aug. 2019 Tilting down accomplished the opposite motion, and Max was quick to start roughhousing with his father, Dr. Ted Ng, landing a few light punches before reaching up and grabbing his dad’s nose.
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San Diego Union-Tribune, "UCSD students restore motion to five-year-old boy’s arms," 15 June 2019 Until then, my daughter has plenty to occupy her: playing basketball, reading, drawing comics, roughhousing with her siblings.
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Washington Post, "It’s 2019. Why are sports-themed toys still so boy-centric?," 8 June 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'roughhouse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for roughhouse
roughhouse
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of roughhouse
US, informal : to play in a rough and noisy way
See the full definition for roughhouse in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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Time Traveler for roughhouse
The first known use of roughhouse was in 1882
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