Rough (?), a. [Compar. Rougher (?); superl. Roughest.] [OE. rou, rou, row, rugh, ruh, AS. rh; akin to LG. rug, D. rug, D. ruig, ruw, OHG. rh, G. rauh, rauch; cf. Lith. raukas wrinkle, rukti to wrinkle. &root; 18. Cf. Rug, n.]
1.
Having inequalities, small ridges, or points, on the surface; not smooth or plain; as, a rough board; a rough stone; rough cloth.
Specifically:
- Not level; having a broken surface; uneven; -- said of a piece of land, or of a road.
"Rough, uneven ways."
Shak.
- Not polished; uncut; -- said of a gem; as, a rough diamond.
- Tossed in waves; boisterous; high; -- said of a sea or other piece of water.
More unequal than the roughest sea.
T. Burnet.
- Marked by coarseness; shaggy; ragged; disordered; -- said of dress, appearance, or the like; as, a rough coat.
"A visage rough." Dryden.
"Roughsatyrs." Milton.
2.
Hence, figuratively, lacking refinement, gentleness, or polish.
Specifically:
- Not courteous or kind; harsh; rude; uncivil; as, a rough temper.
A fiend, a fury, pitiless and rough.
Shak.
A surly boatman, rough as wayes or winds.
Prior.
- Marked by severity or violence; harsh; hard; as, rough measures or actions.
On the rough edge of battle.
Milton.
A quicker and rougher remedy.
Clarendon.
Kind words prevent a good deal of that perverseness which rough and imperious usage often produces.
Locke.
- Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating; -- said of sound, voice, and the like; as, a rough tone; rough numbers.
Pope.
- Austere; harsh to the taste; as, rough wine.
- Tempestuous; boisterous; stormy; as, rough weather; a rough day.
He stayeth his rough wind.
Isa. xxvii. 8.
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
Shak.
- Hastily or carelessly done; wanting finish; incomplete; as, a rough estimate; a rough draught.
Rough diamond, an uncut diamond; hence, colloquially, a person of intrinsic worth under a rude exterior.
-- Rough and ready.
- Acting with offhand promptness and efficiency.
"The rough and ready understanding."
Lowell.
- Produced offhand.
"Some rough and ready theory."
Tylor.
© Webster 1913.
Rough, n.
1.
Boisterous weather.
[Obs.]
Fletcher.
2.
A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy.
In the rough, in an unwrought or rude condition; unpolished; as, a diamond or a sketch in the rough.
Contemplating the people in the rough.
Mrs. Browning.
© Webster 1913.
Rough, adv.
In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.
Sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats.
Sir W. Scott.
© Webster 1913.
Rough, v. t.
1.
To render rough; to roughen.
2.
To break in, as a horse, especially for military purposes.
Crabb.
3.
To cut or make in a hasty, rough manner; -- with out; as, to rough out a carving, a sketch.
Roughing rolls, rolls for reducing, in a rough manner, a bloom of iron to bars. -- To rough it, to endure hard conditions of living; to live without ordinary comforts.
© Webster 1913.