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cuff

Pronunciation: /kʌf/

The English word “cuff” has 13 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Glove; mitten
  2. The end of a shirt sleeve that covers the wrist.
  3. The end of a pants leg when folded up.
  4. A surgical procedure in which parts of the body that were not previously connected are stitched together.
  5. A handcuff.
  6. A blow, especially with the open hand; a box; a slap.
  7. The scruff of the neck.

verb

  1. To furnish with cuffs.
  2. To handcuff.
  3. To enter into a committed romantic relationship with (someone).
  4. To hit, as a reproach, particularly with the open palm to the head; to slap.
  5. To fight; to scuffle; to box.
  6. To buffet.

Etymology

From Middle English cuffe, coffe (“glove, mitten”), of obscure origin. Perhaps from Old English cuffie (“hood, cap”), from Medieval Latin cofia, cofea, cuffa, cuphia (“helmet, headdress, hood, cap”), from Frankish *kuf(f)ja (“headdress”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuffju, from Proto-Germanic *kupjō (“cap”). Cognate with Middle High German kupfe (“cap”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.