Citations:ruche

to pleat

 * 1864, Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine:
 * Fig. 14.—Foulard silk, with hair stripes. At each seam the dress opens to a-point over a silk petticoat. The skirt is ruched around the bottom and the openings, between which are bows of ribbon and lace.
 * 1897, Fur Trade Review, page 391:
 * It is lined with maroon silk, and has a flaring doubled over pleating of silk, ruched around the neck inside of a five-pointed collar. The plaiting stands in the back and falls about the chin, extending in a cascade down the side of the coat ...
 * 1899, The Country Gentleman, page 337:
 * This will consist in large part of a half-dozen inexpensive flowered organdies, which she has picked up at various sales for from ten to twenty cents a yard. She has had all of them made with low waists, ruffled or ruched around the corsage, ...
 * 1962, Harold Wallace Ross, William Shawn, Tina Brown, David Remnick, Rea Irvin, The New Yorker
 * That unforgettable dress was pale-blue taffeta, ruched around the neck and the hem; it was tied around the waist with a shrimp-pink velvet ribbon.
 * 1970, Penthouse:
 * Ruched around legs and tied with pussy-cat bow in red ribbon. £2 10s, sizes 32-38 (state which)
 * 1984, Natalie Rothstein, Madeleine Ginsburg, Avril Hart, Four hundred years of fashion, page 138:
 * The matching skirt consists of a drape of pink figured silk, tucked up at the hips to show tiers of machine-made lace frills and pleats It is ruched in front and has a train box-pleated into the back.

transitive: to pleat (or: to bunch up?)

 * 2002, Stephen Phillips, The Poetry Review:
 * I had to halt my flow and pause while I quickly brushed the crumbs out and down onto my tank-top, which I noticed was becoming a little ruched around the waist, and which I pulled up ...
 * 2012, I. J, Kay, Mountains of the Moon: A Novel:
 * Receptionist has come around with a cluster and polish to shine the mahogany coffee table. “Do you think it's the uniform?” Gwen says. “I rather like it.” “Edwardian.” “It's rather fetching.” The long black skirt is ruched up high on the arse, gives ”
 * 2014, Harriet Evans, Not Without You, Simon and Schuster (ISBN 9781476746043), page 47:
 * Joe Baxter pulled the dress farther down, so it was ruched around my middle, the bottom half pulled up to my stomach.
 * 2017, Laura Trentham, An Indecent Invitation: Spies and Lovers Book 1, Laura Huskins (ISBN 9781946306012):
 * A woman with an agonized expression on her up-turned face sat with her knees apart while a man buried his head between her legs. Her dress was ruched around her waist, and her breasts were bared. Gilmore&#39;s scandalous, erotic art.
 * 2018, Sarah Selecky, Radiant Shimmering Light, Bloomsbury Publishing USA (ISBN 9781635571813):
 * Nana bends down and pushes down the fleece tube, releasing the dog&#39;s ears and face, and leaves the fabric ruched around her neck.
 * 2018, Raquel Byrnes, Tremblers, Pelican Ventures Book Group (ISBN 9781611169744):
 * Clad in a leather bodice and black skirts ruched up past her knees, the wild-haired rescuer pushed a pair of brass goggles up onto her mop of red locks and squinted. “Well, this is a fine mess,” she said.
 * 2019, JC Harroway, The Proposition: A Sexy Billionaire Romance, Harlequin (ISBN 9781488048845):
 * The dress ruched around her waist gives the impression of bonds, a reminder that, despite being the most put-together woman I&#39;ve ever met, Orla was as impatient to let go as I was to help her.

intransitive: to (fold, pleat?,) bunch, or ruck up?

 * 2014, M. Dylan Blair, Fall From Paradise (book one of The Genesis Trilogy):
 * The material ruched around my breasts, sweetheart style, before falling around me like a waterfall of pink and coral. It seemed strange for Camael to exhibit any sort of kindness. Whatever favor he thought he was doing me, I still didn&#39;t know.