rough
n. uncountablen. the part of a golf course where the grass is long and thick. It is much harder to hit the ball from here than from the short grass.
n. an area of long, uncut grass bordering the fairway on a golf course. It serves as a hazard that increases the difficulty of subsequent shots.
He hit the ball into the rough and lost it.
The golfer struggled to reach the green after her tee shot landed deep in the rough.
Tournament officials intentionally allowed the rough to grow taller than usual to challenge the precision of the professional players during the championship weekend.
From Middle English rough, roughe, roȝe, row, rou, ru, ruȝ, ruh, from Old English rūg, rūh, from Proto-Germanic *rūhaz. Cognate with Scots ruch, rouch (“rough”), Saterland Frisian ruuch, rouch (“rough”), West Frisian rûch (“rough”), Low German ruuch (“rough”), Dutch ruig (“rough”), German rau(h) (“rough”), Danish ru (“uneven on the surface, "rough", "rugged"”).
Usually used with the definite article 'the'.