I. ˈshəfəl verb
( shuffled ; shuffled ; shuffling -f(ə)liŋ ; shuffles )
Etymology: perhaps irregular from shove (I) + -le
transitive verb
1.
a. : to mix in a mass confusedly : throw into disorder : jumble
war has … shuffled our population — Lucien Price
b. : to cause to mingle indiscriminately — usually used with among or with
shuffled first offenders in with hardened criminals
2.
a. : to introduce into trickily : smuggle in
contrived by your enemies and shuffled into the papers that were seized — John Dryden
b. : to put or thrust aside or under cover
shuffled the whole matter out of his mind
shuffling the letter out of sight as someone entered
3.
a. : to manipulate (as a group of playing cards or tiles) with the real or ostensible purpose of causing a later appearance in random order (as in dealing or drawing)
b. : to push or move about, back and forth, or from one place to another : shift
shuffle funds among various accounts
pulled all the drawers open to shuffle his belongings more handily — Josephine Pinckney
dispatchers had godlike … power to shuffle us to and fro — Christopher Morley
4.
a. : to move (as the feet) by sliding along or back and forth without lifting
shuffled his feet nervously as he waited
shuffled his slippers over the floor
b. : to perform (as a dance) with a dragging, sliding step
shuffle a saraband
intransitive verb
1. : to work into or out of trickily : worm — usually used with in, into, or out of
managed to shuffle in with his betters
shuffled out of the difficulty somehow
2. : to act or speak in a shifty or evasive manner : equivocate
the more the cardinals shuffled, the more furiously the mob raged — G.G.Coulton
without shuffling for a moment about his past errors — J.M.Barzun
3.
a. : to move or walk in a sliding, dragging manner without lifting the feet : scuff , scuffle
saw a bear shuffling along
boxers shuffling around in the ring
saw him shuffling through the streets in his battered carpet slippers — Van Wyck Brooks
b. : to dance in a lazy nonchalant manner with sliding and tapping motions of the feet
c. : to execute in a perfunctory or clumsy manner — usually used with through
allowed to shuffle through his lessons — George Eliot
d. : to get into or out of shoes or clothing awkwardly or fumblingly — usually used with into, off, on, or out of
began to shuffle on his fur jacket and his moccasins — Willa Cather
watched him shuffle gloomily into his overcoat — William DuBois
4. : to mix playing cards or counters (as dominoes or tiles) by shuffling
5. : to attack with the spurs in cock fighting
II. noun
( -s )
1. : an evasion of the issue : equivocation
answer it now, yes or no, plain word and no shuffle — Max Pemberton
2.
a. : an act of shuffling (as of cards or playing counters)
after the shuffle the players select tiles in turn
b. : a right or turn to shuffle
reminded sharply that it was his shuffle
c. : a confused mass : jumble
a desk with a shuffle of papers on it — Adrian Bell
the goal of training good teachers had been lost in the shuffle of educational trappings — Benjamin Fine
3.
a. : a dragging sliding walk : scuffle
the … shuffle of the man's feet across the dusty floor — Victor Canning
b.
(1) : a sliding or scraping step in dancing
(2) : a dance characterized by such a step
dancing a sailor's shuffle
the double shuffle