tussle
Other forms: tussles; tussled; tussling
A tussle is a rowdy fight. If the rambunctious kids you're babysitting get into a tussle, you may have to separate them for a while and calm them down.
Though a tussle is often a physical fight, it's rarely a serious one. Two wrestling dogs, a couple of scuffling teenagers — these are examples of tussles. The word tussle is Scottish, a variant of touselen, which is related to tousle, or "dishevel or muss," which you might do to a little kid's hair. The root of both is the Old English tousen, "handle or push about roughly."
-
disorderly fighting
-
fight or struggle in a confused way at close quarters
-
make messy or untidysynonyms: musstype of:disarrangedestroy the arrangement or order of
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing tussle
Freak the Mighty tells the story of an unlikely friendship between an awkward, lumbering outcast and a physically challenged genius. Together, the two boys become a force for good.
This adaptation of an Old English epic describes the feats of the warrior Beowulf, who arrives in the great hall of Heorot to defeat a bloodthirsty monster.
Twelve-year-old Roy Ebehardt takes an unexpected interest in the plight of a group of owls endangered by a local pancake house.