frowse

English

Etymology

Back-formation from frowsy.

Verb

frowse (third-person singular simple present frowses, present participle frowsing, simple past and past participle frowsed)

1. (transitive) To cause to be scruffy or untidy; to rumple or tangle.
2. (intransitive) To move or be in a scruffy state or manner.
   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 88:

     Podson, yawning and frowsing out of his blanket, gaped at this ultimatum in the dawn.