shuffled; shuffling
ˈshə-f(ə-)liŋ 
1
: to mix in a mass confusedly : jumble
2
: to put or thrust aside or under cover
shuffled the whole matter out of his mind
3
a
: to rearrange (playing cards, dominoes, tiles, etc.) to produce a random order
b
: to move about, back and forth, or from one place to another : shift
shuffle funds among various accounts
4
a
: to move by sliding along or back and forth without lifting
shuffle one's feet
b
: to perform (something, such as a dance) with a dragging, sliding step
1
: to work into or out of trickily
shuffled out of the difficulty
2
: to act or speak in a shifty or evasive manner
3
a
: to move or walk in a sliding dragging manner without lifting the feet
b
: to dance in a lazy nonchalant manner with sliding and tapping motions of the feet
c
: to execute in a perfunctory or clumsy manner
4
: to mix playing cards or counters by shuffling
1
: an evasion of the issue : equivocation
2
a
: an act of shuffling (as of cards)
b
: a right or turn to shuffle
it's your shuffle
c
: a confusing jumble (as of papers or events)
lost in the shuffle
3
a
: a dragging sliding movement
specifically
: a sliding or scraping step in dancing
b
: a dance characterized by such a step
c(1)
: a rhythm where each beat of the measure is played as a triplet with the first and second parts of the triplet tied and the third part accented
(2)
: music played in a shuffle rhythm
Synonyms
Verb
- barge
- clump
- flog [British]
- flounder
- galumph
- lumber
- lump
- plod
- pound
- scuff
- scuffle
- shamble
- slog
- slough
- stamp
- stomp
- stumble
- stump
- tramp
- tromp
- trudge
Noun
- agglomerate
- agglomeration
- alphabet soup
- assortment
- botch
- clutter
- collage
- crazy quilt
- farrago
- gallimaufry
- grab bag
- gumbo
- hash
- hodgepodge
- hotchpotch
- jambalaya
- jumble
- jungle
- litter
- macédoine
- medley
- mélange
- menagerie
- miscellanea
- miscellany
- mishmash
- mixed bag
- montage
- motley
- muddle
- olio
- olla podrida
- omnium-gatherum
- pastiche
- patchwork
- patchwork quilt
- potpourri
- ragbag
- ragout
- rummage
- salad
- salmagundi
- scramble
- smorgasbord
- stew
- tumble
- variety
- welter
Examples of shuffle in a Sentence
Verb
He shuffled across the floor.
She stood there, shuffling her feet, waiting for the bus to arrive.
She shuffled the papers on her desk.
The manager shuffled the batting order.
Whose turn is it to shuffle and deal?
Noun
We heard the shuffle of feet outside the door.
He gave the cards a good shuffle and then dealt.
Recent Examples on the Web
Rachel Wilkerson Miller, SELF, 3 Apr. 2024
Her brother shuffles from around the counter in the shop's back kitchen and pulls her in for a tight hug.
—Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 2 Apr. 2024
Through increasingly frantic sequences—videos of hydraulic presses smashing Technicolor plastic toys, audio files of shuffling paper and falling shelves—Ben led Alicia to a storage room, home to a cabinet full of scrapbooks.
—Camille Butera, WIRED, 1 Apr. 2024
Most of the folks who shuffle in and out, holding bags stuffed with quarter chickens and plastic foam containers bulging with side dishes, don’t know about the corporate drama behind the chain’s demise.
—Emily Heil, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
There were also two unindicted co-conspirators: Individual 1 was an Australian who ran foreign companies that shuffled money around, while Individual 2 held himself out as the underwriter of the Brittingham Group's transactions.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Homeless people come and go, shuffling between the exterior of the Epicentre property, an area behind the senior center and the adjacent community park.
—Jennifer Van Grove, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2024
Carlson is here because his health care team snagged a row of wheelchair-accessible tickets, packed up extra ventilator batteries and oxygen tanks, and shuffled staffing schedules to free up three workers to accompany Carlson for the night.
—Dan Gorenstein, NPR, 26 Mar. 2024
And so, the image of Victoria Beckham in a pair of comfortable sneakers is always going to jar on some level, much like when the designer wore a box-fresh pair of Nike Air Jordans while strolling–read: shuffling on crutches–around Paris yesterday afternoon.
—Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 22 Mar. 2024
Sacramento Bee, 5 Apr. 2024
This week, just four years after the last management shuffle, Boeing announced the coming departure of top executives, including CEO Dave Calhoun and Chairman of the Board Larry Kellner.
—Michael Goldstein, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
But that performance against New York isn’t enough to throw everything into the shuffle.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024
The loss took the edge off a season in which the Ravens experienced a notable roster shuffle, reworked the offense under first-year coordinator Todd Monken and streaked to the finish after a 3-2 start.
—David Ginsburg, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2024
The board room shuffles also follow an ultimately unsuccessful bid by the Imax Group parent company to take Imax China private.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 28 Feb. 2024
And not to get lost in the shuffle: Lyft reported solid earnings.
—Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 15 Feb. 2024
The two have cute chemistry to spare, but while many of Grant's duet partners (Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts) can get lost in the shuffle, Barrymore's Sophie stands out due to her unabashed niceness despite her struggle to get over a previous toxic relationship (with a dastardly Campbell Scott).
—Gwen Ihnat, EW.com, 7 Nov. 2023
Setting Garvey up Rather than risk that, Schiff is executing a nifty political shuffle.
—Jim Newton, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2024
Verb
And finding someone to ask what’s going on necessitates shuffling around the hallways pantsless and in your socks.
—Rachel Wilkerson Miller, SELF, 3 Apr. 2024
Her brother shuffles from around the counter in the shop's back kitchen and pulls her in for a tight hug.
—Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 2 Apr. 2024
Through increasingly frantic sequences—videos of hydraulic presses smashing Technicolor plastic toys, audio files of shuffling paper and falling shelves—Ben led Alicia to a storage room, home to a cabinet full of scrapbooks.
—Camille Butera, WIRED, 1 Apr. 2024
Most of the folks who shuffle in and out, holding bags stuffed with quarter chickens and plastic foam containers bulging with side dishes, don’t know about the corporate drama behind the chain’s demise.
—Emily Heil, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
There were also two unindicted co-conspirators: Individual 1 was an Australian who ran foreign companies that shuffled money around, while Individual 2 held himself out as the underwriter of the Brittingham Group's transactions.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Homeless people come and go, shuffling between the exterior of the Epicentre property, an area behind the senior center and the adjacent community park.
—Jennifer Van Grove, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2024
Carlson is here because his health care team snagged a row of wheelchair-accessible tickets, packed up extra ventilator batteries and oxygen tanks, and shuffled staffing schedules to free up three workers to accompany Carlson for the night.
—Dan Gorenstein, NPR, 26 Mar. 2024
And so, the image of Victoria Beckham in a pair of comfortable sneakers is always going to jar on some level, much like when the designer wore a box-fresh pair of Nike Air Jordans while strolling–read: shuffling on crutches–around Paris yesterday afternoon.
—Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 22 Mar. 2024
Noun
The thief shuffles to the front porch, moves over a small package, then pulls the parcel inside of the bag, the video shows.
—Sacramento Bee, 5 Apr. 2024
This week, just four years after the last management shuffle, Boeing announced the coming departure of top executives, including CEO Dave Calhoun and Chairman of the Board Larry Kellner.
—Michael Goldstein, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
But that performance against New York isn’t enough to throw everything into the shuffle.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024
The loss took the edge off a season in which the Ravens experienced a notable roster shuffle, reworked the offense under first-year coordinator Todd Monken and streaked to the finish after a 3-2 start.
—David Ginsburg, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2024
The board room shuffles also follow an ultimately unsuccessful bid by the Imax Group parent company to take Imax China private.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 28 Feb. 2024
And not to get lost in the shuffle: Lyft reported solid earnings.
—Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 15 Feb. 2024
The two have cute chemistry to spare, but while many of Grant's duet partners (Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts) can get lost in the shuffle, Barrymore's Sophie stands out due to her unabashed niceness despite her struggle to get over a previous toxic relationship (with a dastardly Campbell Scott).
—Gwen Ihnat, EW.com, 7 Nov. 2023
Setting Garvey up Rather than risk that, Schiff is executing a nifty political shuffle.
—Jim Newton, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shuffle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Shuffle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shuffle. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
shuffle
1 of 2 verb
shuf·fle
ˈshəf-əl
shuffled; shuffling
-(ə-)liŋ
1
: to mix in a disorderly mass
2
: to push out of sight
3
a
: to mix cards to change their order in the pack
b
: to move from place to place
4
a
: to walk or move by sliding or dragging the feet
shuffling along
b
: to move by sliding along or back and forth without lifting
shuffled her feet
shuffle
2 of 2 noun1
a
: an act of shuffling
b
: a disorderly mass or pile
2
: a sliding or dragging walk
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