Translate shuffle | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish Definition of shuffle
verb
1 [no object] walk by dragging one’s feet along or without lifting them fully from the ground:I stepped into my skis and shuffled to the edge of the steep slope (as adjective shuffling)she heard Grandma’s shuffling steps shift one’s position while sitting or move one’s feet while standing, typically because of boredom, nervousness, or embarrassment:Christine shuffled uneasily in her chair [with object]:Ben shuffled his feet in the awkward silence [with object] (
shuffle something into)
put part of one’s body into (an item of clothing), typically in a clumsy way:shuffling her feet into a pair of shoes, she tiptoed out of the room
2 [with object] rearrange (a deck of cards) by sliding the cards over each other quickly. move (people or things) around so as to occupy different positions or to be in a different order:she shuffled her papers into a neat pile play or arrange (tracks on a music player) in a random order: the control lets you shuffle or skip songs by flicking the phone with your wrist [no object] (
shuffle through)
sort or look through (a number of things) hurriedly:he shuffled through the papers on his desk
3 [with object] (
shuffle something off)
get out of or avoid a responsibility or obligation:some hospitals can shuffle off their responsibilities by claiming to have no suitable facilities [no object] archaic behave in a shifty or evasive manner:Mr. Mills did not frankly own it, but seemed to shuffle about it [no object] (
shuffle out of)
archaic get out of (a difficult situation) in an underhanded or evasive manner:he shuffles out of the consequences by vague charges of undue influence
noun
1 [in singular] a shuffling movement, walk, or sound:there was a shuffle of approaching feet a quick dragging or scraping movement of the feet in dancing. a dance performed with shuffling steps. a piece of music for or in the style of a shuffle. a rhythmic motif based on a shuffle dance step and typical of early jazz, consisting of alternating quarter notes and eighth notes in a triplet pattern.
2an act of shuffling a deck of cards. a change of order or relative positions; a reshuffle:the president will have to consider a cabinet shuffle in the spring a facility on a music player for playing tracks in an arbitrary order:I had my iPod on shuffle and ‘Eleanor Rigby’ just happened to begin playing [as modifier]:a shuffle facility
3 archaic a piece of equivocation or subterfuge.
