ruction

ruction

English

WOTD – 26 April 2009

Etymology

1825, of unknown origin, possibly from eruption or insurrection.[1] Possibly related to the Irish insurrection of 1798.[2]

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɹʌk.ʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌkʃən

Noun

ruction (plural ructions)

1. A noisy quarrel or fight.
   • 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, XII [Uniform ed., p. 131]:

     “If you do want to go home, here’s your whip. Don’t fall off. Say to her you wanted it, or there might be ructions.”

   • 1947, Christopher Sheridan, Bread and circuses, page 52:

     She could see there were going to be ructions. Sure enough there'd be a scene between them, when Sebastian found what Tilly had been up to.

   • 2002, Ruth Bereson, The Operatic State: Cultural Policy and the Opera House, page 148:

     Although she acknowledged that the development of an opera house had caused considerable ructions in Australia, she nevertheless implied that its construction was a sort of coming-of-age for the rough antipodeans

   • 2013, Alan S. Blinder, After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, ..., page 381:

     While the U.S. government had a huge fiscal deficit, similar to Greece's, the financial ructions emanating from Athens sent nervous money flocking to the United States, not away.

   • 2014, Murray C. Morison, Time Sphere:

     Dad drove and Mum commented on Dad's driving; not too much, but just enough to occasionally lead to ructions.

Synonyms

• (noisy quarrel): brawl, disturbance, fracas, row, uproar

Related terms

• ruckus

Translations

noisy quarrel or fight

Bashkir: талаш (talaş), ыҙғыш (ıðğış) Bulgarian: кавга (bg) f (kavga), караница (bg) f (karanica) Czech: povyk (cs) m Dutch: vechtpartij (nl) f, oproer (nl) n, krakeel (nl) n, herrie (nl) f, tumult (nl) n Finnish: rähinä (fi) French: rixe (fr) German: Aufruhr (de) m Maori: tutūnga, tutūnga o te puehu, heihei (mi) Scottish Gaelic: ramaidh m Spanish: pelea (es) f, reyerta (es) f Swedish: bråk (sv) n, gräl (sv) n, gruff (sv) n

References

• ruction at OneLook Dictionary Search
• ruction in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “ruction”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
2. Webster's New International Dictionary. Unabridged. (1954). subruction."

Anagrams

• courtin', in court