rough

Etymology

From Middle English rough, rogh, roȝe, row, rou, ru, ruȝ, ruh, from Old English rūg, rūh, from Proto-Germanic *rūhaz. Cognate with Scots ruch, rouch (“rough”), Saterland Frisian ruuch, rouch (“rough”), West Frisian rûch (“rough”), Low German ruuch (“rough”), Dutch ruig (“rough”), German rau(h) (“rough”), Danish ru (“uneven on the surface, "rough", "rugged"”).

adj

1. Not smooth; uneven.
2. Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished.
   a rough estimate
   a rough sketch of a building
   a rough plan
3. Turbulent.
   rough sea
4. Difficult; trying.
   Being a teenager nowadays can be rough.
5. Crude; unrefined.
   His manners are a bit rough, but he means well.
6. Worn; shabby; weather-beaten.
7. Violent; not careful or subtle.
   This box has been through some rough handling.
8. Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating.
   a rough tone
   a rough voice
9. (of a gem) Not polished; uncut.
   a rough diamond
10. Harsh-tasting.
    rough wine
11. (chiefly UK, colloquial, slang) Somewhat ill; sick; in poor condition.
12. (chiefly UK, colloquial, slang) Unwell due to alcohol; hungover.

noun

1. The unmowed part of a golf course.
2. A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy.
   In Wellington Street my brother met a couple of sturdy roughs, who had just rushed out of Fleet Street with still wet newspapers and staring placards. "Dreadful catastrophe!" they bawled one to the other down Wellington Street. "Fighting at Weybridge!" 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 124
3. (cricket) A scuffed and roughened area of the pitch, where the bowler's feet fall, used as a target by spin bowlers because of its unpredictable bounce.
4. The raw material from which faceted or cabochon gems are created.
5. A quick sketch, similar to a thumbnail but larger and more detailed, used for artistic brainstorming.
6. (obsolete) Boisterous weather.
   In calms you fish; in roughs use songs and dances. 1633, Phineas Fletcher, Eclog 1. Amyntas
7. A piece inserted in a horseshoe to keep the animal from slipping.

verb

1. To create in an approximate form.
   Rough in the shape first, then polish the details.
2. (ice hockey) To commit the offense of roughing, i.e. to punch another player.
3. To render rough; to roughen.
4. To break in (a horse, etc.), especially for military purposes.
   To Rough Horses, a word in familiar use among the dragoons to signify the act of breaking in horses, so as to adapt them to military purposes. 1802, Charles James, A New and Enlarged Military Dictionary
5. To endure primitive conditions.
   to rough it
   I was able to help Trudy set up camp and everything else, of course there are different ways to camp the usual comfortable way or roughed we of course roughed it and I did my best to keep warm. 2013, Anne-Marie K. Kittiphanh, If Life Gave Me LEMONS, I Would Turn It into HONEY
6. (transitive) To roughen a horse's shoes to keep the animal from slipping.

adv

1. In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.