scruff
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /skɹʌf/
- Rhymes: -ʌf
Etymology 1
See scurf.
Noun
scruff (countable and uncountable, plural scruffs)
- Someone with an untidy appearance.
- That candidate will never get the job: he's a right scruff.
- Stubble, facial hair (on males).
- (obsolete) Crust.
- (obsolete) Scurf.
Derived terms
- scruffy
Translations
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Etymology 2
1790, from earlier (1787) scuft, influenced by scruff (“crust”). Related to North Frisian skuft (“back of the neck of a horse”) and Dutch schoft (“withers (of a horse)”), from Proto-Germanic. Compare also Old Norse skopt (“hair of the head”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐍆𐍄 (skuft, “hair of the head”), Middle High German schopf (German Schopf).[1]
Noun
scruff (plural scruffs)
- The loose skin at the back of the neck of some animals.
- (rare) The back of the neck, nape; also scruff of the neck.
- He grabbed his unruly kid by the scruff of the neck, and took him home.
Usage notes
Strictly refers to the loose skin at the back of the neck – found on many mammals, though not humans – rather than the back of the neck itself. While this distinction is not always observed, scruff is used almost exclusively in the phrase “to grab [someone/something] by the scruff [of the neck]”.
Synonyms
- nape
- nucha, nuchal (medical)
- withers (of a horse)
Translations
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Verb
scruff (third-person singular simple present scruffs, present participle scruffing, simple past and past participle scruffed)
- To lift or carry by the scruff.
See also
- scuff
References
- “scruff” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.