6 Annotations

First Reading

TerryF  •  Link

Touse \Touse\, Touze \Touze\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Toused;
p. pr. & vb. n. Tousing.] [OE. tosen [root]64. See tease,
and cf. Tose, Toze. ]
To pull; to haul; to tear; to worry. [Prov. Eng.] --Shak.

As a bear, whom angry curs have touzed. --Spenser.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) http://dict.die.net/touse/

to tousle/tumble a woman (L&M Glossary)

in Aqua scripto  •  Link

whence : thy tousled unkept look, dragged thru an 'edge backwards or did thee comb thy 'air with a leg of a chair.

Pauline  •  Link

from L&M Large Glossary.....
for "towse":
to tousle/tumble a woman.

Alas, they don't have an entry for "tousle."

Benvenuto  •  Link

"Tousle" is still current in UK English -- it means to ruffle or untidy someone's hair, clothing, etc.

Second Reading

Bill  •  Link

TOUZE or TOUZLE, To rumple, tumble, pull about, throw down, to be rude, or over familiar with a Woman.
---A new general English dictionary. T. Dyche, 1735.

Bill  •  Link

Take him hence.
To the rack with him. - We'll touze you joint by joint,
But we will know this purpose.
Measure for Measure. W. Shakespeare.

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1663

1666

  • Aug