ruddy

Etymology

From Middle English ruddy, rody, rudi, from Old English rudiġ (“reddish; ruddy”), from rudu (“redness”), equivalent to rud (“redness”) + -y. Compare Icelandic roði (“redness”). The British slang sense expressing irritation is presumably a euphemism for bloody.

adj

1. Reddish in color, especially of the face, fire, or sky.
   ruddy:
   Frank, who is narrow and ruddy, and who tended to wear a shirt and tie with a cherry-red beanie pulled low over one ear, swapped his white butcher’s coat for a puffer jacket, and led me outside 1 September 2020, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian
2. (Britain, Australia, slang, not comparable) A mild intensifier, expressing irritation.
   Michael, you have been sitting on your butt for the last two hours! Why didn't you mow the ruddy lawn?!! 1991, Lynn Johnston, What, Me Pregnant? (For Better or For Worse) (comic), page 37
   I shall monitor your behaviour carefully during Marge’s visit. If, at the end of it, you’ve toed the line and kept to the story, I’ll sign your ruddy form. 1999, J. K. Rowling, chapter 2, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Bloomsbury

adv

1. (Britain, slang) A mild intensifier, expressing irritation.
   'You're not ruddy going anywhere,' he said, slamming the door behind him. 2017, June Francis, When the Clouds Go Rolling By

noun

1. (informal) A ruddy duck.
   In winter, snow geese land at West Pond, a Robert Moses legacy that ought to be called Duck Soup: at this time of year look for ruddies, greater scaups, Northern pintails, American widgeons and gadwalls. November 4, 2007, Deborah Baldwin, “Close to Nature, and the Airport”, in New York Times
2. (informal) A ruddy ground dove.
   Ground doves — two ruddies are shown here — are so called because they feed on the ground. 1987, Jürgen Nicolai, A Complete Introduction to Finches, Tfh Publications Incorporated, page 89
   Understandably, birders in the U.S. are advised to carefully distinguish Ruddies from the usually more-expected Common Ground-Doves …. (Brightly-colored, pinkish adult male Common Ground-Doves have been misidentified as male Ruddies on several occasions, however.) Unless the fortunate birder happens upon a Ruddy Ground-Dove amongst a flock of sparrows, it will often be necessary to sort through innumerable Inca Doves. 1994, Birding, page 298
   Common Ground-Dove — Fairly common permanent resident of better-watered valleys at lower elevations. Avoids town … Ironically, Ruddies often ignore the little flocks of closely related Commons, and choose to associate with Inca Doves. 2005, Richard Cachor Taylor, A Birder's Guide to Southeastern Arizona, page 237
   Out-of-state birders seeking Ruddy Ground Doves should be aware of two things. Ruddies associate much more frequently with Inca Doves than with Common Ground Doves. In fact, in eleven personal sightings of this species in Arizona, I have never seen a Ruddy with a Common nor has anyone else I know. … Perhaps this is a slow invasion, and forty years hence Ruddies will be so common ... 2008, Jim Burns, Jim Burns' Arizona Birds: From the Backyard to the Backwoods, University of Arizona Press, page 28

verb

1. (transitive) To make reddish in colour.
   The sunset ruddied our faces.