What does "shuffle" mean?
The act of mixing cards or mah-jong tiles so as to randomize them.
Shuffle
/ˈʃʌfəl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The act of mixing cards or mah-jong tiles so as to randomize them.
- Grammar: shuffle is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: admix, alloy, alternate, alternate number.
- Useful contrasts: sequenced region, static schedule, arrange.
- Usage evidence: Please shuffle the cards carefully.
How to use "shuffle"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "shuffle" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "shuffle" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "shuffle" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "shuffle" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "shuffle" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "admix" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "shuffle", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of mixing cards or mah-jong tiles so as to randomize them.
"He made a real mess of the last shuffle."
- 2 walking with a slow dragging motion without lifting your feet wordnet
- 3 The act of reordering anything, such as music tracks in a media player.
- 4 the act of mixing cards haphazardly wordnet
- 5 An instance of walking without lifting one's feet.
"The sad young girl left with a tired shuffle."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 A rhythm commonly used in blues music, consisting of a series of triplet notes with the middle note missing, so that it sounds like a long note followed by a short note, and suggests a walker dragging one foot. broadly
- 7 A dance move in which the foot is scuffed back and forth across the floor.
- 8 A trick; an artifice; an evasion.
"The Gifts of Nature are beyond all the Shams and Shuffles in the World."
Verb
- 1 To put in a random order. ambitransitive
"Don't forget to shuffle the cards."
- 2 mix so as to make a random order or arrangement wordnet
- 3 To change; modify the order of something.
"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."
- 4 walk by dragging one's feet wordnet
- 5 To move in a slovenly, dragging manner; to drag or scrape the feet in walking or dancing. ambitransitive
"He shuffled out of the room."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 move about, move back and forth wordnet
- 7 To change one's position; to shift ground; to evade questions; to resort to equivocation; to prevaricate.
"I myself, […] hiding mine honour in my necessity, am fain to shuffle."
- 8 To use arts or expedients; to make shift.
"Your life, good master, / Must shuffle for itself."
- 9 To shove one way and the other; to push from one to another.
"to shuffle money from hand to hand"
- 10 To remove or introduce by artificial confusion.
"Therefore you do vvell to have recourſe to your laſt Evaſion, that it vvas contriv'd by your Enemies, and ſhuffled into the Papers that vvere ſeiz'd: vvhich yet you ſee the Nation is not ſo eaſy to believe as your ovvn Fury; […]"
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Please shuffle the cards carefully."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "shuffle"?
Common synonyms include: admix, alloy, alternate, alternate number, amalgamate, amble.
How do you use "shuffle" in a sentence?
Please shuffle the cards carefully.
How do you pronounce "shuffle"?
Pronounced /ˈʃʌfəl/.
Etymology
Originally the same word as scuffle, and properly a frequentative of shove.