Definition

1. Verb:

   • To mix cards into a random order: To change the arrangement of playing cards so their order becomes unpredictable, typically before a game.
   • To walk by dragging one's feet: To walk without lifting the feet completely off the ground, creating a soft, scraping sound.
   • To move things or people into a different, often disorganized, order: To rearrange or reorganize items or people in a casual or haphazard manner.

2. Noun:

   • A slow, dragging walk: A way of walking characterized by short steps and feet not being lifted clear of the ground.
   • The act of mixing cards: The action or instance of randomizing the order of a deck of playing cards.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • Please shuffle the deck before you deal. (Mix the cards randomly.)
  • The old man shuffled slowly across the room. (He walked slowly, dragging his feet.)
  • She shuffled the papers on her desk, looking for the right document. (She moved the papers around in a disorderly way.)

• Noun:

  • He walked with a tired shuffle. (He had a slow, dragging walk.)
  • It's your shuffle. Mix the cards well. (It is your turn to mix the cards.)

Advanced Usage

• "to shuffle off": To get rid of or evade something (like a responsibility) in a careless or evasive way.
  • He always tries to shuffle off the blame onto his colleagues.
• "to shuffle through": To search through something by moving items around in a disorderly fashion.
  • She shuffled through her bag to find her keys.
• "to shuffle one's feet": To move one's feet slightly and restlessly, often due to nervousness or embarrassment.
  • The boy shuffled his feet while admitting his mistake.

Variants and Related Words

• Shuffling (noun/adj): The action or sound of dragging one's feet; moving in a shuffling manner.
  • We heard the shuffling of cards from the next room.
• Reshuffle (verb/noun): To shuffle again; a reorganization, especially within a government or company.
  • The Prime Minister decided to reshuffle the cabinet.

Synonyms

• Verb (mix): Mix, jumble, rearrange, scramble.
• Verb (walk): Shamble, scuffle, drag one's feet.
• Noun (walk): Shamble, drag.
• Noun (mixing): Mixing, randomization.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Shuffle around: To move people or things to different positions, often without a clear plan.
  • The manager shuffled the team around to cover for the absent staff.
• Shuffle off/out of: To leave a place with a slow, shuffling walk; (figuratively) to evade.
  • He shuffled out of the meeting early.

Related Idioms

• Shuffle the cards / Shuffle the deck: (Literal) To mix playing cards. (Figurative) To make significant changes to a situation, plan, or group of people.
  • After the scandal, the CEO decided to shuffle the deck in the management team.
• Lost in the shuffle: To be overlooked or forgotten during a process of change or reorganization.
  • Several important issues got lost in the shuffle during the company merger.

Noun

1. walking with a slow dragging motion without lifting your feet
   • from his shambling I assumed he was very old
2. the act of mixing cards haphazardly

Verb

1. mix so as to make a random order or arrangement
   • shuffle the cards
2. move about, move back and forth
   • He shuffled his funds among different accounts in various countries so as to avoid the IRS
3. walk by dragging one's feet
   • he shuffled out of the room
   • We heard his feet shuffling down the hall