touse

English

Etymology

From Middle English tosen, from Old English *tāsan, from Proto-West Germanic *taisan. See tease. Cognate with German zausen (“to tousle”).

Verb

touse (third-person singular simple present touses, present participle tousing, simple past and past participle toused)

1. (transitive) To rumple, tousle.
2. (transitive) To pull to pieces.
   • 1844, Robert Browning, "Garden Fancies," II. Sibrandus Schafnaburgennis:

     How did he like it when the live creatures

     Tickled and toused and browsed him all over,

     And worm, slug, eft, with serious features

     Came in, each one, for his right of trover?

Noun

touse (plural touses)

1. a noisy disturbance

Anagrams

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