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ruelle

noun ru·elle \ (ˈ)rü¦el \
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Definition of ruelle

plural -s
1 archaic : the space between a bed and the wall
2 : a morning reception held in their bedrooms by fashionable French ladies of the 17th and 18th centuries
3 : a narrow street or alley
  • the smaller ruelles were in pitch-darkness
  • —Donald Stokes

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Origin and Etymology of ruelle

Middle English ruel, from Middle French ruele, literally, alley, diminutive of rue street, from Latin ruga wrinkle, fold

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