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brouiller

to blur, to scramble

verb broo-YEH Rare
Communication Speech

Also means

to fall out (with someone)

Usage Note

Brouiller means to make something unclear (brouiller les pistes — to muddy the tracks, i.e. to confuse matters) and also to cause a falling-out between people (se brouiller avec quelqu'un — to fall out with someone). Brouillé as an adjective means 'scrambled' (des oeufs brouillés — scrambled eggs) and 'estranged'. The noun brouillard (fog) shares the same root idea of obscuring.

Examples

"Ils se sont brouillés après la dispute."

Natural Translation

They fell out after the argument.

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