Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
Tousle — Tou sle, v. t. [Freq. of touse. Cf.{Tossle}.] To put into disorder; to tumble; to touse. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
tousle — index agitate (shake up), discompose Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
tousle — pull roughly, disorder, dishevel, mid 15c., frequentative of tousen handle or push about roughly, from O.E. *tusian, from P.Gmc. *tus (Cf. Fris. tusen, O.H.G. erzusen, Ger. zausen to tug, pull, dishevel ); related to TEASE (Cf. tease) … Etymology dictionary
tousle — ► VERB ▪ make (something, especially a person s hair) untidy. ORIGIN from dialect touse «handle roughly», of Germanic origin … English terms dictionary
tousle — [tou′zəl] vt. tousled, tousling [freq. of ME tusen (in comp.), to pull to pieces, tear, prob. akin to OE tæsan: see TEASE] to disorder, dishevel, muss, rumple, etc. n. a tousled condition, mass of hair, etc … English World dictionary
tousle — [15] Tousle was derived from an earlier touse ‘pull about, shake’ (probable source also of tussle [15]), which went back to an Old English *tūsian. Amongst its relatives is German zausen ‘tug, tousle’. => TUSSLE … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins
tousle — UK [ˈtaʊz(ə)l] / US verb [transitive] Word forms tousle : present tense I/you/we/they tousle he/she/it tousles present participle tousling past tense tousled past participle tousled to make someone s hair look untidy … English dictionary
tousle — I. transitive verb (tousled; tousling) Etymology: Middle English touselen, frequentative of tousen Date: 15th century dishevel, rumple < tousled hair > II. noun Date: 1788 1 … New Collegiate Dictionary
tousle — /tow zeuhl/, v., tousled, tousling, n. v.t. 1. to disorder or dishevel: The wind tousled our hair. 2. to handle roughly. n. 3. a disheveled or rumpled mass, esp. of hair. 4. a disordered, disheveled, or tangled condition. Also, touzle. [1400 50;… … Universalium
tousle — verb To put into disorder; to tumble; to touse … Wiktionary
