Touse
/taʊz/noun
To tousle or pull about roughly, especially the hair.
Did you know?Touse is a real English dialect word tied to the same ancient root behind words for pulling and tugging, giving it an unexpectedly physical, almost ritual sense of force.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*tewh₂-
“to pull, drag”
Old English
OE
tēon
“to pull, drag, draw”
Middle English
ME
tousen
“to pull about roughly; to rumple”
Early Modern English
English
touse
“to handle roughly, pull or dishevel”
Modern English
English
touse
“to tousle or rough up”