rather fat bodies, and a woman who looks like this is sometimes called Rubenesque or compared to a Rubens painting.
Ru·bi·con /'ru:bɪkən, -kənl-kɑːn/ a small river in N Italy, which in ancient times formed the border between Italy and GAUL. Julius Caesar crossed the river with his army in 49BC, and by doing this he disobeyed the Roman Government and so was at war with Rome. The expression 'cross the Rubicon' is based on these events, and it means to take a decision which you cannot change and which will have important effects in the future.
ru·bi·cund /'ruːbɪkənd/ adj fml or humor (of a person or especially their face) fat, red, and healthy-looking: a jolly, rubicund farmer
Ru·bik's Cube /'ru:biks,kju:b/ also Rubik Cube trademark a type of toy consisting of a CUBE with nine smaller coloured cubes on each side. The small cubes must be turned so that each side of the toy shows one colour only. Rubik's Cube was a very popular toy in the 1970s.
ru·ble /'ru:bəl/ n a ROUBLE
ru·bric /'ruːbrik/ n fml a set of rules or explanations on an examination paper, in a book etc which is printed in a different way to the main body of the writing and which tells one what to do
ru·by /ˈruːbi/ n 1 [C] a deep red precious stone 2 [U] the colour of this stone
Ruby, Jack (1911–67) the man who killed Lee Harvey OSWALD two days after Oswald was charged with killing President John F. KENNEDY. Some people believed that these actions were part of a CONSPIRACY (=secret plan) to kill the President, and that Ruby shot Oswald to prevent him from giving any information about it.
RUC, the /,ɑː juː 'siːl,ɑːr-/ abbrev. for Royal Ulster Constabulary; the former name of the PSNI
ruck¹ /rʌk/ n BrE 1 [the] the ordinary level of life: She dreamed of getting out of the (common) ruck and becoming famous as a singer. 2 [S] (especially in the game of RUGBY) a loose disordered group of players
ruck up phr v [1] (of cloth) to form unwanted folds: Your coat has rucked up at the back.
ruck·sack /ˈrʌksæk/ especially BrE || usually backpack AmE — n a bag fastened to the shoulders and usually fixed to a light frame, used by climbers and walkers for carrying their belongings
ruck·us /'rʌkəs/ n [C usually sing.] infml, especially AmE a noisy argument or a noisy confused situation; RUMPUS
'uc·tion /'rʌkʃən/ also ructions pl. — n [S] infml, especially BrE noisy complaints and anger: There'll be ructions if you don't give him some more chocolate!
'ud·der /'rʌdər/ n a wooden or metal blade at the back of a ship or aircraft that is swung from side to side to control the direction in which it moves → see picture at AIRCRAFT
'—less adj. (fig., fml) The death of our leader has left the country rudderless.
ud·dy¹ /'rʌdi/ adj 1 apprec (of the face) pink and healthy-looking: the children's ruddy cheeks 2 especially lit red or reddish: The fire cast a ruddy glow over the city. 3 [A] BrE euph (used to add force, especially to an expression of anger) BLOODY: You're standing on my ruddy foot! —diness n [U]
"adv BrE euph BLOODY: There's no need to be so ruddy rude!"
ude /ruːd/ adj 1 (of a person or their behaviour) not at all polite; intentionally bad-mannered; offensive: It's rude to tell someone you don't like them. | Don't be so rude to your father. | It was very rude of her to leave without telling us. | a rude remark/letter → see IMPOLITE (USAGE) 2 (used especially by or to children) concerned with sex: She told a rather rude joke, and everyone looked embarrassed. 3 [A] sudden and unpleasant: We had a rude shock when we discovered who he really was. | The staff had a rude awakening when they learned that the company was in serious trouble. 4 [A] old use or lit simple and roughly made: a rude hut 5 in rude health fmi or pomp very healthy —~ness n [U]
rudely. 2 old use or lit in a RUDE way: a rudely constructed shelter.
ru·di·ments /'ruxdɪmənts/ n [the P+of] the simplest parts (of a subject), learnt at the very beginning: It didn't take me long to pick up/learn the rudiments of the language.
Ru·dolph, the Red-nosed Rein·deer /,rur·dolf ðə ,red nəuzd 'reindier\|,ru:da:lf-/ a character in a children's Christmas song. Rudolph is a REINDEER (=a large grass-eating wild animal with large horns) who has a shiny red nose. The other reindeer think his nose looks silly, but SANTA CLAUS asks him to help the other reindeer to pull his SLEIGH on a FOGGY night, because his bright nose helps them to see where they are going.:
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
Had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it,
You would even say it glows.
rue /ruː/ v [T] especially old use or humor to be very sorry about (something one has done or not done); REGRET: He'll rue the day (=will always be sorry that) he married her.
rue·ful /ˈruːfəl/ adj feeling or showing that one is sorry about something: 'If only I hadn't agreed to do it,' he thought with a rueful smile. —ly adv
ruff /rʌf/ n 1 a stiff wheel-shaped white collar worn in Europe in the 16th century 2 a ring of hair or feathers round the neck of an animal or bird
ruf·fi·an /'rʌfiən/ n old-fash derog an unpleasant violent man: a gang of ruffians —ly adj
ruf·fle¹ /'rʌfəl/ v [T] 1 [(UP)] to move the smooth surface of; make uneven: He fondly ruffled the child's hair. | The bird ruffled (up) its feathers. 2 to trouble or upset, especially causing a loss of confidence: Her taunts ruffled his pride/composure. | Some of the audience were shouting at him, and you could see he was getting a bit ruffled. 3 ruffle someone's feathers infml to make someone slightly angry or upset
ruffle $ ^{2} $ n a band of fine cloth sewn in folds as a decoration round the edge of something, especially at the neck or wrists of a garment; FRILL
rug /rʌg/ n 1 a thick usually woollen mat, smaller than a CARPET, used to cover the floor or for decoration: a rug in front of the fire | a hearthrug → compare MAT 2 especially BrE a large warm woollen covering to wrap round oneself, especially when travelling or camping: Put this rug over your knees. 3 humor, especially AmE for TOUPEE 4 pull the rug (out) from under infml to suddenly stop supporting or helping
rugby
rugby also ,rugby 'football fmt n [U] a type of football played with an OVAL (=egg-shaped) ball. The ball can be carried in the hand and passed to other players by throwing or kicking, and points are won by carrying the ball to the opponents' end of the field or by kicking it over an H-shaped bar. Rugby is formally called rugby football and informally called rugger. → see colour photo on page A43