(ˈ)rü|el noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English ruel, from Middle French ruele, literally, alley, diminutive of rue street, from Latin ruga wrinkle, fold — more at rough
1. archaic : the space between a bed and the wall
2. : a morning reception held in their bedrooms by fashionable French ladies of the 17th and 18th centuries
3. : a narrow street or alley
the smaller ruelles were in pitch-darkness — Donald Stokes