Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.
Rough
Rough like butter spread over stale bread.
—Anonymous
Rough as the back of a hedgehog.
—J. R. Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms
Rough as hemp.
—Thomas Carlyle
Rough as a Sea Porkypine.
—Charles Dickens
Rough as a storm.
—John Dryden
Rough as bearskins.
—Robert Heath
Rough as nutmeg-graters.
—Aaron Hill
Rough as the winds.
—Thomas Otway
Were she as rough
As are the swelling Adriatic seas.
—William Shakespeare
Rough as a Russian bear.
—John Taylor