Muff

//mʌf// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
  2. 2
    A village in County Donegal, Ireland.
  3. 3
    A diminutive of the female given name Myfanwy.
  4. 4
    An unincorporated community in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, United States.
Noun
  1. 1
    A piece of fur or cloth, usually with open ends, used for keeping the hands warm. historical

    "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."

  2. 2
    A fool, a stupid or poor-spirited person. colloquial

    "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?"

  3. 3
    A muffin. slang

    "Skinny lattes and a couple of blueberry muffs."

  4. 4
    (sports) dropping the ball wordnet
  5. 5
    The vulva or vagina; pubic hair around it. slang, vulgar

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Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    An error, a mistake; a failure to hold a ball when once in the hands. slang
  2. 7
    a warm tubular covering for the hands wordnet
  3. 8
    A woman or girl. slang, vulgar
  4. 9
    A bird, the whitethroat.
  5. 10
    A blown cylinder of glass which is afterward flattened out to make a sheet.
  6. 11
    The feathers sticking out from both sides of the face under the beak of some birds.
  7. 12
    A short hollow cylinder surrounding an object such as a pipe.
Verb
  1. 1
    To drop or mishandle (the ball, a catch etc.); to play badly.
  2. 2
    make a mess of, destroy or ruin wordnet
  3. 3
    To mishandle; to bungle.

    "But then, supposing this was the real sign? … They had muffed three already; they daren’t muff the fourth."

  4. 4
    fail to catch, as of a ball wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

Probably from Dutch mof (“muff, mitten”).

Etymology 2

Unknown; perhaps a specialised use of Etymology 1, above; or perhaps related to Dutch muffen (“to dote”) and German muffen (“to sulk”).

Etymology 3

Unknown; perhaps a specialised use of Etymology 1, above; or perhaps related to Dutch muffen (“to dote”) and German muffen (“to sulk”).

Etymology 4

Shortening.

Etymology 5

* As an English surname, variant of Mowe, itself from Middle English maugh (“son-in-law”), from Old Norse mágr. * As a German and Alemannic German surname, from the noun mupf (“drooping mouth”), which is probably ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *mauwu (“protruding mouth, pout”).

Etymology 6

* As an English surname, variant of Mowe, itself from Middle English maugh (“son-in-law”), from Old Norse mágr. * As a German and Alemannic German surname, from the noun mupf (“drooping mouth”), which is probably ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *mauwu (“protruding mouth, pout”).

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