Shuffle Meaning
/ˈʃʌfəl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe act of mixing cards or mah-jong tiles so as to randomize them.
nounThe act of reordering anything, such as music tracks in a media player.
Sentence Examples
Please shuffle the cards carefully.
Do you want me to shuffle the cards?
CEFR Practice Quiz
After waiting so long, the bored audience began to ____ their feet in place.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The dealer will ____ the deck of cards thoroughly before starting the next round of the game.
Word Origin & History
Originally the same word as scuffle, and properly a frequentative of shove.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The Gifts of Nature are beyond all the Shams and Shuffles in the World."
— 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
"But, rather than make a change up front, Hughes shuffled his defence for this match, replacing Carlos Salcido with Baird, in a move which few would have predicted would prove decisive."
— 2010 December 28, Marc Vesty, “Stoke 0 – 2 Fulham”, in BBC Sport:
"[T]he aged creature came, / Shuffling along with ivory-headed wand, […]"
— 1819, John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza XI, page 88:
"Even when the other instruments were resting the pianist kept up his monotonous vamping, with a dreary furbelow for embellishment here and there, to which some few of the dancers continued to shuffle round the floor."
— 1954, Alexander Alderson, chapter 4, in The Subtle Minotaur:
"The regular crowd shuffles in"
— 1973, “Piano Man”, Billy Joel (music):
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After waiting so long, the bored audience began to ____ their feet in place.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The dealer will ____ the deck of cards thoroughly before starting the next round of the game.