ruddle vs ruddy

ruddle

verb
  • To mark something with red ochre. 

  • To raddle or twist. 

  • To sift together; to mix, as through a sieve. 

noun
  • A form of red ochre sometimes used to mark sheep. 

  • A riddle or sieve. 

ruddy

verb
  • To make reddish in colour. 

noun
  • A ruddy duck. 

  • A ruddy ground dove. 

adv
  • A mild intensifier, expressing irritation. 

adj
  • Reddish in color, especially of the face, fire, or sky. 

  • A mild intensifier, expressing irritation. 

How often have the words ruddle and ruddy occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )