verb (used with object), tou·sled, tou·sling.
- to disorder or dishevel: The wind tousled our hair.
- to handle roughly.
noun
- a disheveled or rumpled mass, especially of hair.
- a disordered, disheveled, or tangled condition.
verb (tr)
- to tangle, ruffle, or disarrange
- to treat roughly
noun
- a disorderly, tangled, or rumpled state
- a dishevelled or disordered mass, esp of hair
“pull roughly, disorder, dishevel,” mid-15c., frequentative of -tousen “handle or push about roughly,” from Old English *tusian, from Proto-Germanic *tus- (cf. Frisian tusen, Old High German erzusen, German zausen “to tug, pull, dishevel”); related to tease.