Definition of "ruck"

Dandolo was constantly in the ditch, sometimes lying with his side against the bank, and had now been so hustled and driven that, had he been on the other side, he would have had no breath left to carry his rider, even in the ruck of the hunt.

1873, Anthony Trollope, Phineas Redux‎, archived from the original on 11 August 2014, Chapter 16

‘Here and there among cats one comes across an outstanding superior intellect, just as one does among the ruck of human beings [...].’

1911, Saki, “Tobermory”, in The Chronicles of Clovis

Your worth as a couple is not down to how passionate your rucks are—I said rucks—and how frantic the making-up sex is.

2023 January 28, Justin Myers, “62 dating green flags that shout ‘this one’s a keeper’”, in The Guardian‎

Puzzle begged very hard to have the lion-skin taken off him. He said it was too hot and the way it was rucked up on his back was uncomfortable […]

1956, C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle, Collins, 1998, Chapter 8

"What, exactly, happened down cellar?" Appleyard asked, straightening with his heel a rucked rug.

1959, Peter De Vries, The Tents of Wickedness, page 28

She wore long dangling earrings faced with mirrors, and white Bermuda shorts rucked back to reveal knees and thighs like waxed maple.

1989, Carol Shields, “Block Out”, in The Collected Stories, Random House Canada, 2004, page 299

The army had a shooting range up there hidden in the chestnut forests, that was all; like a passing plane rucking the fabric of perfect silence, the shots brought all that shatters continuity in life, the violence of emotions, the trajectories of demands and contests of will.

2003, Nadine Gordimer, “L,U, C, I, E.”, in Loot and Other Stories, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux

"Will you come over now and try on your dress?" Ally asked, looking at her with wistful admiration. "I want to be sure the sleeves don't ruck up the same as they did yesterday."

1917, Edith Wharton, chapter XII, in Summer […], New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, page 178

Bot now thei rucken in here nest And resten as hem liketh best.(please add an English translation of this quotation)

c. 1386–1390, John Gower, edited by Reinhold Pauli, Confessio Amantis of John Gower: Edited and Collated with the Best Manuscripts, volumes (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Bell and Daldy […], published 1857

The Rauen rook'd her on the Chimnies top, And chatt'ring Pies in dismall Discords sung.

c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene vi]

The Henry Royall [a ship], at her parting thence, / Like the Huge Ruck from Gillingham that flevv: […]

1627, Michaell Drayton [i.e., Michael Drayton], “The Battaile of Agin Court”, in The Battaile of Agincourt. […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for VVilliam Lee, […], published 1631, page 14

Shah-e-Kot Valley, Afghanistan. March 2002. I strained to see over the soldiers in front of me. They were struggling to shuffle off the bird as quickly as they could. I dragged my ruck across the floor of the aircraft in my right hand.

2007, Brandon Friedman, The War I Always Wanted: The Illusion of Glory, page 57

First of all – a “ruck” is nothing more than a backpack. So to "ruck march" is to carry a heavy duty backpack on a hike (loaded with gear and supplies).

2013 July 5, Brad McLeod, Top 10 Ruck Marching Tips‎, accessed 17 JUL 2015

Rocky was only five foot six and skinny as a February coyote, but he could hump an eighty pound ruck across twenty mountain miles […]

2015, Sean T. Smith, Wrath and Redemption

He started at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday as he began rucking to church. He changed his clothes, went to church and then began rucking again. That distance totaled about nine miles. Rucking is hiking with a military style backpack, filled with weight.

2015 June 16, Brandon Cole, “Mount Vernon's Barnes to Compete in "Death Race"”, in the Posey County News, page 13