How to Use ruff in a Sentence

ruff

1 of 2 noun

• All dogs are good—some are just a little ruff around the edges.
  — Kelly O'Sullivan, Country Living, 25 Aug. 2023
• All dogs are good—some are just a little ruff around the edges.
  — Kelly O'Sullivan, Country Living, 25 Aug. 2023
• This deal is like a diamond in the ruff!
  — Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 1 Apr. 2026
• Your goal should be to stop declarer from scoring ruffs with low trumps.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 8 Aug. 2024
• Up close, the marigold has a glowing ruff that is almost decadent.
  — Sam Knight, New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2025
• West leads the king and queen of hearts, and South ruffs and takes the A-J of trumps.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 14 Aug. 2024
• The canine competition was ruff, and so were the waves.
  — Laylan Connelly, Oc Register, 19 June 2026
• John Travolta is having a ruff time trying to get any words out.
  — Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 1 Oct. 2022
• The Biden family dogs' time at the White House is off to a ruff start.
  — Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY, 31 Mar. 2021
• The choristers stand in their stalls wearing white surplices over red cassocks and white ruffs.
  — Peter Ross, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Apr. 2023
• Layers of gauzy chiffon were cinched with bustiers and ruffs were made from shredded newspaper.
  — Violet Goldstone, WWD, 4 Nov. 2024
• Her four backup dancers wore Victorian garb, one even sported a black and white neck ruff.
  — Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean, 17 June 2024
• Outfits ran the gamut from wooly Norwegian sweaters and camo jackets to fur ruffs and kuspuks.
  — Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 3 Mar. 2023
• The animals are the largest members of the weasel family, and look like miniature bears with long tails and a fluffy ruff.
  — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Aug. 2020
• The design layers are taken from classical dance skirts and ruff collars.
  — Tianwei Zhang, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
• Pierrot makes an appearance, and a ruff is worthy of Rembrandt.
  — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 16 Jan. 2023
• On Saturday night, the king of the castle wore head-to-toe black leather — with a small ruff of lace and two strands of black pearls.
  — Miles Socha, WWD, 6 Oct. 2024
• The event, perfect after a ‘ruff’ day, will take place near Barkwood Dog Park.
  — cleveland, 17 June 2022
• The Puppy Bowl starting line-up is ready for ruff competition.
  — Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 7 Feb. 2025
• Pagel, who pulled into Mile 101 with her fur ruff frosted in ice, parked her team and settled in for a five-hour stop.
  — Marc Lester, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Feb. 2021
• Corrine Danner and Diana Martin shared how to make ruffs using skin and fur.
  — Alena Naiden, Anchorage Daily News, 24 Aug. 2023
• But the zoo wanted only resplendent males, which can weigh nearly twice as much as females and sport a frost-gray ruff around a narrow, pumice-pink face.
  — Rebecca Giggs, The Atlantic, 6 May 2022
• Like other Andean condors, Andy was a large black bird with white patches on his wings and a ruff of white feathers around his neck.
  — Scott D. Pierce, The Salt Lake Tribune, 18 Aug. 2023
• When East discards on a trump lead to the ace next, Cy can lead a trump to dummy’s nine, take his club ruff in dummy and cash the queen of trumps.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 3 Nov. 2024
• The woman, whose identity remains unknown, dons a white neck ruff, a pink dress with orange accents and fine jewelry.
  — Ella Feldman, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Jan. 2023
• Her pink brocade dress, frilly neck ruff, and elaborate and prominent jewelry and headdress hint at her social status.
  — Natasha Gural, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023
• Steve looked at me from underneath the ruff of his parka, a lovely mist of snow blowing 20 mph across the lake, his line frozen stiff in a dime-size opening in the ice.
  — Anchorage Daily News, 2 Jan. 2021
• Kaplan adds that his experiments were done on mice (mice who were wearing tiny, adorable Elizabethan ruffs, no less) and have not yet been done on humans.
  — Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 29 Mar. 2025
• The other – the ostentatious ruff – also uses its disguise to avoid aggressive assaults.
  — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 8 Nov. 2011
• For the Eastern grouse hunter, the large numbers of ruffs in these limited areas of the Northwest may be overwhelming, and there are very few ruffed grouse hunters.
  — Worth Matthewson, Outdoor Life, 2 Oct. 2025

ruff

2 of 2 verb

• South ruffs in dummy and ruffs a club with the queen of trumps.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 6 Feb. 2024
• West won and led the queen of hearts, and South ruffed and ran his trumps.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024
• East won with the jack and tried to cash the ace, and declarer ruffed and drew trumps.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 9 June 2024
• South then ruffs a club high, leads a trump to dummy’s jack and discards a diamond on the ace of clubs.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2024
• Rose then ruffed her last heart in dummy and discarded a diamond on the good fifth club.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2024
• When East can’t ruff, South returns a trump to his hand and runs the diamonds to make the slam.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024
• East couldn’t gain by ruffing a loser, so Aker took the queen and ruffed his last diamond in dummy.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 19 June 2024
• South can ruff only one diamond in dummy and loses a diamond.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024
• Cy then takes the K-A of clubs — West can’t gain by ruffing — and, having won nine tricks, ruffs dummy’s last club.
  — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 30 Apr. 2024