muff
See also: Muff
English
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) IPA(key): /mʌf/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ʌf
Etymology 1
Probably from Dutch mof (“muff, mitten”).
Noun
muff (plural muffs)
- (historical) A piece of fur or cloth, usually with open ends, used for keeping the hands warm.
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:
- Selwyn, sitting up rumpled and cross-legged on the floor, after having boloed Drina to everybody's exquisite satisfaction, looked around at the sudden rustle of skirts to catch a glimpse of a vanishing figure—a glimmer of ruddy hair and the white curve of a youthful face, half-buried in a muff.
-
- (vulgar, slang) Female pubic hair; female genitals (vulva, vagina), like muffin. See Thesaurus:vagina.
- (by extension) A woman or girl.
- (glassblowing) A blown cylinder of glass which is afterward flattened out to make a sheet.
- The feathers sticking out from both sides of the face under the beak of some birds.
- A short hollow cylinder surrounding an object such as a pipe.
Synonyms
- whiskers, beard, muff and beard (bird feathers):
Related terms
- muff-diver
- muff-diving
- muff pistol
Translations
a piece of fur or cloth for keeping the hands warm
|
pubic hair
|
a blown cylinder of glass which is afterward flattened out to make a sheet
a short hollow cylinder surrounding an object such as a pipe
|
References
- “muff, n.1.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
- “muff”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Etymology 2
Unknown; perhaps a specialised use of Etymology 1, above; or perhaps related to Dutch muffen (“to dote”) and German muffen (“to sulk”).
Noun
muff (plural muffs)
- (colloquial) A fool, a stupid or poor-spirited person. [from 19th c.]
- 1860, William Makepeace Thackeray, Lovel the Widower
- Can you fancy that such an old creature (an old muff, as you call him, you wicked, satirical man!) could ever make en impression on my heart?
- 1860, William Makepeace Thackeray, Lovel the Widower
- (slang, chiefly sports) An error, a mistake; a failure to hold a ball when once in the hands. [from 19th c.]
- A bird, the whitethroat.
Translations
an error
|
Verb
muff (third-person singular simple present muffs, present participle muffing, simple past and past participle muffed)
- (sports) To drop or mishandle (the ball, a catch etc.); to play badly. [from 19th c.]
- To mishandle; to bungle. [from 1920s]
- 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review Books 2006, p. 69:
- Here was the superlative opportunity to make a generous and lasting settlement from a position of strength; but the pieds noirs, like the Israelis, and from not altogether dissimilar motives, were to muff it.
- 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review Books 2006, p. 69:
Translations
in American football, to drop or mishandle the ball
|
by extension, to mishandle any situation
|
Etymology 3
Shortening.
Noun
muff (plural muffs)
- (slang) A muffin.
- 2010, Lindsay G. Arthur, The Litigators (page 63)
- Skinny lattes and a couple of blueberry muffs.
- 2010, Lindsay G. Arthur, The Litigators (page 63)
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [mʊf]
Audio (file)
Verb
muff
- singular imperative of muffen
- (colloquial) first-person singular present of muffen
Hungarian
Etymology
From German Muff, from Dutch mof ("muff"), from Middle Dutch moffel, from Middle French moufle ("mitten"), from Medieval Latin muffula ("fur-lined glove"), of unknown origin.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈmufː]
- Hyphenation: muff
- Rhymes: -ufː
Noun
muff (plural muffok)
- (archaic) muff (handwarmer)
- (slang) vagina
- (slang) woman
Declension
Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | muff | muffok |
accusative | muffot | muffokat |
dative | muffnak | muffoknak |
instrumental | muffal | muffokkal |
causal-final | muffért | muffokért |
translative | muffá | muffokká |
terminative | muffig | muffokig |
essive-formal | muffként | muffokként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | muffban | muffokban |
superessive | muffon | muffokon |
adessive | muffnál | muffoknál |
illative | muffba | muffokba |
sublative | muffra | muffokra |
allative | muffhoz | muffokhoz |
elative | muffból | muffokból |
delative | muffról | muffokról |
ablative | mufftól | muffoktól |
non-attributive possessive - singular | muffé | muffoké |
non-attributive possessive - plural | mufféi | muffokéi |
Possessive forms of muff | ||
---|---|---|
possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
1st person sing. | muffom | muffjaim |
2nd person sing. | muffod | muffjaid |
3rd person sing. | muffja | muffjai |
1st person plural | muffunk | muffjaink |
2nd person plural | muffotok | muffjaitok |
3rd person plural | muffjuk | muffjaik |
Further reading
- muff in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
Swedish
Noun
muff c
- a muff (for keeping hands warm)
- a sleeve ((tubular) covering or lining, e.g. for connecting pipes)
Declension
Declension of muff | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | muff | muffen | muffar | muffarna |
Genitive | muffs | muffens | muffars | muffarnas |
Derived terms
- rattmuff (“steering wheel cover made of fabric”)
References
- muff in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- muff in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)