1. 1. A rocky shoal or sandbar lying just below the surface of a waterway.
   2. A stretch of choppy water caused by such a shoal or sandbar; a rapid.
2. 1. In mining, the sectional stone or wood bottom lining of a sluice, arranged for trapping mineral particles, as of gold.
   2. A groove or block in such a lining.
3. Games. The act or an instance of shuffling cards.

1. Games. To shuffle (playing cards) by holding part of a deck in each hand and raising up the edges before releasing them to fall alternately in one stack.
2. To thumb through (the pages of a book, for example).

1. Games. To shuffle cards.
2. To become choppy, as water.

[Possibly blend of RIPPLE¹ and RUFFLE¹.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.