duffn.1
/dʌf/, U.S. /dəf/ Coal in the form of small particles and dust; small coal, slack. Also duff coal.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > coal or types of coal > [noun] > small, refuse, impure, or coal-dust
slackc1440
smith coal1466
smithy coal1482
coal dusta1529
panwood1531
smith's coal1578
kirving1599
culm1603
coom1611
small coal1643
smit1670
smut1686
slag1695
duff1724
duff coal1724
small1780
gum1790
stinking coal1803
cobbles1811
nubbling1825
stinkers1841
rubble1844
pea1855
nuts1857
nut coal1861
slap1865
burgee1867
smudge1883
waste1883
treble1901
coal smut1910
gumming1938
nutty slack1953
1724 R. Hall Observ. Methods used in Holland 62 (caption) The Pott with Duff-coal to melt the Wax-thread, when laping in the Splits.
1843 Newcastle Jrnl. 22 Apr. 2/8 It appears that the plan of using duff, or small coal, for fuel, was discovered by Dr. Reid Clanny, of Sunderland.
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 2 Nov. 6/1 One ton of common duff coal..has generated as much steam as two tons of good bituminous coal.
1925 H. M. Cadell Rocks W. Lothian 353 The mixed coal from the pit is now cleaned, washed, separated out and classified into round coal, ‘nuts’ of various sizes, ‘pearls’ and ‘duff’.
1996 Mining Mag. (Nexis) Oct. 206 Anglovaal has established Duffco to produce low-smoke, low-smell briquettes from duff coal for household use.
2010 G. Blight Geotechnical Engin. for Mine Waste Storage Facilities v. 176 The duff had a loose dry density of 770 kg/m3.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
duffn.2
/dʌf/, U.S. /dəf/ slang. Now rare.
Something worthless or fake; counterfeit money; smuggled goods. Cf. duffer n.1 1, dud n.1 5.In quot. 1879: the passing off or selling of such things.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > [noun] > something false or forged
falsehood1340
counterfeiture1548
forgery1574
bastard1581
man of straw1599
counterfeit1613
imitationa1616
mock1646
pasteboard1648
sophistication1664
imposture1699
fraud1725
sham1728
adulteration1756
falsity1780
duff1781
shim-sham1797
shammy1822
Hodge-razor1843
pinchbeck1847
shice1859
cook-up1865
postiche1876
fakery1880
fake1883
bogosity1893
spuriosity1894
dud1897
cluck1904
rake-up1957
bodgie1988
1781 G. Parker View Society & Manners II. 158 Sham leggers. The duff. Whispering dudders.
1879 Macmillan's Mag. 40 502/1 Men at the duff (passing false jewellery).
1892 Atchison (Kansas) Daily Globe 20 Apr. I want the ‘duff’, the ‘wherewithal’, don't you know; the ‘rhino’, the ‘boodle’; plain, ordinary, everyday cash, pop, that's what I want.
1895 H. L. Williams Love & Lockjaw 7 Lucky my money won't do him any good. It is duff that I carry for a hold-up.
1935 ‘G. Ingram’ Cockney Cavalcade viii. 120 ‘That's all duff,’ he proceeded. The announcement that so much was rubbish, as it consisted of imitation jewellery [etc.].
1949 D. Sinclair Secret Riders Farm vi. 60 There was a short silence before Mike declared in somewhat ruffled tones, ‘You don't think we're giving you the duff?’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
duffn.3
/dʌf/, U.S. /dəf/ 1. Scottish and U.S. Soft or spongy matter covering the ground, esp. decaying vegetable matter (fallen leaves, etc.) covering a forest floor; leaf mould. Also more fully duffmould, leaf duff. Also (Scottish and Irish English (northern)): a soft and spongy kind of peat; a mass or piece of such peat. Cf. perhaps dowf adj. 6b.
ΚΠ
1822 S. Hibbert Descr. Shetland Islands 415 The wet stratum is..covered with a layer of duffmould, or dry decomposed moss.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. (at cited word) Dufe, a soft spungy peat.
1844 W. H. Maxwell Wanderings in Highlands & Islands I. xvi. 289 Dung, mixed with duff-mould.
1878 Pop. Sci. Monthly 13 289 This duff (composed of rotten spruce-trees, cones, needles, etc.) has the power of holding water almost equal to a sponge.
1886 Rep. Forest Comm. State N.Y. 102 I have seen the smoke from fires in the duff even after the snow has fallen.
1922 Jrnl. Forestry 20 242 The most characteristic feature of the spruce root systems is the exceedingly fine and complete fibrous network which it forms in the duff of the forest floor.
1970 J. H. B. Peel Country Talk iii. 46 Frost and rain have rubbled the soil into a duff.
1984 T. Horton Bay Country (1987) 20 The force of rainstorms was diffused through multiple stories of leaves and branches: and what fell to the ground, fell upon a centuries-old accumulation of leaf duff.
1995 J. Fenton Hamely Tongue 45 Doaf, a soft, spongy mass (esp. owl saft doafs o' peats the poorest type of flow peats).
2005 New Yorker 14 Feb. 221/2 The forest floor consisted of a soft duff of rotting redwood foliage.
ΚΠ
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Dufe, the soft or spungy part of a loaf, turnip, new cheese, &c.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
duffn.4
/dʌf/, U.S. /dəf/ Originally Nautical slang.
A boiled or steamed sweet pudding, usually containing fruit, and made in a bag. Cf. plum duff n.Recorded earliest in duff bag n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > puddings > [noun] > a pudding
pudding?1543
duff1828
1828 Paisley Mag. 1 Aug. 409 Can't you spake asy, man? To be sure it is, and his hide as tight as ever you saw a duff-bag on its way from ould Mosley's coppers.
1829 J. Shipp Mem. Mil. Career I. ii. 51 I retreated to a solitary shed to eat my duff (the name by which this description of pudding was well known among us).
?a1855 J. P. Robson Wor Mally Torned Bloomer in Songs of Tyne: No. 9 4 Aw wesh'd the currans—meyd the duff.
1872 C. King Mountaineering in Sierra Nevada vii. 139 Crowning the repast with a duff, accurately globular.
1917 A. G. Empey Over Top vii. 50 He said that the raisins were to be turned over to the cook for ‘duff’ (plum pudding).
1950 ‘C. S. Forester’ Mr. Midshipman Hornblower 234 The meringues and macaroons, the custards and the fruits, were ecstasy for a young man whose last pudding had been currant duff last Sunday.
2009 Westmorland Gaz. (Nexis) 16 Mar. Dessert is apple duff and ice cream.
Compounds
duff bag n. Navy slang (now historical) a heavy-duty cloth bag for boiling puddings, having a looped cord around its neck used for closure and to remove the cooked pudding from boiling water; (hence) something resembling this bag or its means of closure, esp. a handle formed by tying the ends of a neckerchief to the tapes of a jumper (jumper n.2 1), used as a means of rescuing a sailor from water.
ΚΠ
1828Duff-bag [see main sense].
1850 H. Melville White-jacket xv. 96 After this, I grew desperate; despised popularity; returned scorn for scorn; till at length my week expired, and in the duff-bag I transferred the keys of office to the next man on the roll.
1883 Chambers's Jrnl. 142 The sailors' duffbags.
1909 Sunset Mag. 22 178/1 He was leaning from the bridge, guiding the descent of a little canvas duff bag which he was lowering by means of a line, over the ship's side.
1944 J. Irving Naval Life & Customs ii. 28 Moving further down the sailor's body we come to the twin tapes which secure his jumper at the breast and also confine the ‘duff-bag’ of his knotted silk square.
1967 A. Covey-Crump Gloss. Naval Terms (new ed.) at Silk A square of black silk 36″ square, worn with two diagonally opposite corners knotted together (the knot being worn at the back of the neck beneath the collar, and bight (known as a ‘Duff Bag’) being secured in the tapes of the jumper), so that a drowning man's rescuer would have an efficient handgrip.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
duffn.5
/dʌf/, U.S. /dəf/ colloquial (chiefly North American and British regional).
The buttocks; the backside.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > back > buttock(s) > [noun]
flitcha700
arse-endseOE
culec1220
buttockc1300
tail1303
toutec1305
nagea1325
fundamentc1325
tail-end1377
brawna1382
buma1387
bewschers?a1400
crouponc1400
rumplec1430
lendc1440
nachec1440
luddocka1475
rearwarda1475
croupc1475
rumpc1475
dock1508
hurdies1535
bunc1538
sitting place1545
bottom?c1550
prat1567
nates1581
backside1593
crupper1594
posteriorums1596
catastrophe1600
podex1601
posterior1605
seat1607
poop1611
stern1631
cheek1639
breeka1642
doup1653
bumkin1658
bumfiddle1661
assa1672
butt1675
quarter1678
foundation1681
toby1681
bung1691
rear1716
fud1722
moon1756
derrière1774
rass1790
stern-post1810
sit-down1812
hinderland1817
hinderling1817
nancy1819
ultimatum1823
behinda1830
duff?1837
botty1842
rear end1851
latter end1852
hinder?1857
sit1862
sit-me-down1866
stern-works1879
tuchus1886
jacksy-pardy1891
sit-upon1910
can1913
truck-end1913
sitzfleisch1916
B.T.M.1919
fanny1919
bot1922
heinie1922
beam1929
yas yas1929
keister1931
batty1935
bim1935
arse-end1937
twat1937
okole1938
bahookie1939
bohunkus1941
quoit1941
patoot1942
rusty-dusty1942
dinger1943
jacksie1943
zatch1950
ding1957
booty1959
patootie1959
buns1960
wazoo1961
tush1962
?1837 Ri-tum Ti-fum Songster 22 Lay her on her duff, then,..her belly white to kiss.
1857 Coal Hole Compan. Fourth Coll. 30 Her duff she up and down did jerk, Did frisky Nancy Dawson.
1888 S. O. Addy Gloss. Words Sheffield 67 Duff, the fundament.
1942 in G. Legman Rationale of Dirty Joke (1975) II. 407 Otherwise she'd fall on her duff.
1966 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 3 Jan. 20/2 He hasn't been off his duff, hardly, since I got him as a fledgling.
1991 Observer 12 May 20/7 The people were about to sling her out on her duff.
2014 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 5 Dec. l4 At Christmas and birthdays, all the other men in my family..literally and figuratively sit on their duffs because their wives..shop for presents.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
duffn.7
/dʌf/, U.S. /dəf/, Australian English /dʌf/ colloquial (originally Australian).
up the duff: pregnant.
ΚΠ
1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang Duff, up the (of a woman), pregnant.
1948 D. Ballantyne Cunninghams xxiv. 123 What did a man live for? Was it to marry a girl, put her up the duff, slave until the pains came, and then wait for death?
1966 J. Gaskell All Neat in Black Stockings (1968) 68 She has no cravings like girls usually have when they're up the duff.
2015 Daily Mirror (Nexis) 4 Jan. 39 Sam's up the duff, but hasn't yet told Foyle.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
duffadj.
/dʌf/, U.S. /dəf/ colloquial (originally and chiefly British).
1. Originally of money: fake, counterfeit; not genuine.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > [adjective]
counterfeitedc1385
counterfeitc1386
trothlessa1393
bastard1397
forged1484
apocryphate1486
adulterate?a1509
mockisha1513
sophisticate1531
adulterine1542
adulterous1547
mock1548
forbate1558
coined1582
firking1594
feigned1598
adulterated1610
apocryphal1612
spurious1615
usurpeda1616
impostured1619
mock-madea1625
suppository1641
affictitious1656
pasteboard1659
sophisticated1673
flam1678
Brummagem1679
sham1681
belieda1718
fictitious1739
Birmingham1785
pinchbeck1790
brummish1803
Brum1805
flash1812
spurious1830
bogus1839
imitative1839
dummy1846
doctored1853
postiche1854
pseudo1854
Brummagemish1855
snide1859
inauthentic1860
fake1879
bum1884
Brummie1886
tin1886
filled1887
duff1889
faked1890
shicec1890
margarine1891
dud1904
Potemkin village1904
mocked-up1919
phoney baloney1936
four-flushing1942
bodgie1956
moody1958
disauthentic1960
bodgied1988
bodgied-up1988
1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang I. 336/2 Duff (thieves), spurious.
1910 Sessions Paper CLIV. 24 Nov. 82 I rang it [sc. a coin] on the counter; he said ‘Break it up—it is duff.’
1984 ‘J. Gash’ Gondola Scam (1985) iv. 29 She bid a fortune for the fake even though she knew it was duff.
1992 L. Davis Iron Hand of Mars (2011) 64 I've been slipped some duff coins, Falco—cut in quarters and halves!
2. More generally: worthless, useless, inadequate, poor. Cf. dud adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless
naughteOE
unworthc960
nought worthOE
unworthya1240
vaina1300
lewd1362
base?1510
to be nothing toc1520
stark naught1528
nothing worth1535
worthilessa1542
draffish1543
baggage1548
dunghill?1555
valureless1563
toyish1572
worthless1573
out (forth) of door (also doors)1574
leaden1577
riff-raff1577
drafty1582
fecklessc1586
dudgeon?1589
nought-worth1589
tenpenny1592
wanwordy?a1595
shotten herring1598
nugatory1603
unvalued1604
priceless1614
unvaluable1615
valuelessa1616
waste1616
trashya1620
draffy1624
stramineous1624
invaluable1640
roly-poly?1645
nugatorious1646
perquisquilian1647
niffling1649
lazy1671
wanworth1724
little wortha1754
flimsy1756
waff1788
null1790
nothingy1801
nothingly1802
twopenny-halfpenny1809
not worth a flaw1810
garbage1817
peanut1836
duffing1839
trash1843
no-account1845
no-count1851
punky1859
rummagy1872
junky1880
skilligalee1883
footle1894
punk1896
wherry-go-nimble1901
junk1908
rinky-dink1913
schlock1916
tripe1927
duff1938
chickenshit1940
sheg-up1941
expendable1942
(strictly) for the birds1943
tripey1955
schlocky1960
naff1964
dipshit1968
cack1978
1938 ‘J. Curtis’ They drive by Night iv. 47 ‘Duff old machines these,’ said a driver... ‘Whyn't they get some new'uns?’
1942 Spectator 30 Oct. 405/2 Airmen spend a great deal of time and energy trying to obtain advance information.., ‘gen’ which usually turns out to be thoroughly inaccurate, and is thereupon disappointedly stigmatised as ‘duff gen’.
1956 R. Robinson Landscape with Dead Dons ix. 79 Pity we got off to a duff start.
1965 ‘J. Lymington’ Green Drift i. 8 I went down to the pub because the play was so duff.
2005 New Statesman 17 Mar. 22 (heading) If the credit bubble bursts, banks could find they've not made enough provision for bad loans and duff investments.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
duffv.1
/dʌf/, U.S. /dəf/ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > present speciously [verb (transitive)] > improve appearance
paintc1390
set1540
daub1543
plaster1546
varnish1571
to gild over1574
adorn1589
parget1592
glaze1605
apparel1615
pranka1616
lustre1627
candidate1628
varnish1641
lacquer1688
whitewash1703
tinsel1748
duff1750
fineer1765
veneer1847
superficialize1851
gloss1879
window dress1913
beglamour1926
sportswash2012
1750 Proc. Old Bailey 7 Nov. 5/1 He took up the Trade of what is commonly called duffing Brandy, Tea, &c. about the Town, from House to House.
1786 Proc. Old Bailey 30 Aug. 1141/2 I have bought it [sc. a length of calico], says she, of a fair hair'd man that duffs on board a ship.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 70/2 Parrot duffing..is seldom carried on regularly by any one, for he will often duff cigars and other things in preference, or perhaps vend really smuggled and good cigars or tobacco.
1856 Melbourne Punch 1 (Cal. Apr., following p. 178) An auctioneer imprisoned for duffing a ring. He essayed to cheat his customer, but the latter got the ring assayed.
1866 All Year Round 12 May 421/2 They'll beg, and duff, and dodge about the West-end.
1870 31st Rep. Deputy Keeper Public Rec. p. vi, in Parl. Papers (C. 187) XXXIX. 1 Some of these..MSS. were so very bad that it would have been impossible to duff them.
1892 Edinb. Evening News 3 Mar. 2 A good deal of the old plate was ‘duffed’.
2. transitive. Australian slang. To alter the brands on (stolen cattle) in order to disguise their provenance; to steal (cattle) and then do this. Now chiefly historical.
ΚΠ
1857 Argus (Melbourne) 17 Mar. It came out that Norton had duffed the yearling filly about the same time.
1862 Western Post (Mudgee, New S. Wales) 13 Dec. 2/5 It would not be advisable to duff any more cattle.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Squatter's Dream xiv. 162 He'd think more of duffing a red heifer than all the money in the country.
1936 M. Franklin All that Swagger 118 He thought someone had duffed them [sc. steers].
1964 Penguin Bk. Austral. Ballads 88 And we'll duff the squatter's cattle.
2000 Ralph 7 July 21/4 If you duff a couple of sheep or cattle, what crime have you committed?
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > perpetrate (a swindle) [verb (transitive)] > defraud or swindle > out of something
beguile1394
wrongc1484
delude1493
licka1500
to wipe a person's nose1577
uncle1585
cheat1597
cozen1602
to bob of1605
to bob out of1605
gull1612
foola1616
to set in the nick1616
to worm (a person) out of1617
shuffle1627
to baffle out of1652
chouse1654
trepan1662
bubble1668
trick1698
to bamboozle out of1705
fling1749
jockey1772
swindle1780
twiddle1825
to diddle out of1829
nig1829
to chisel out of1848
to beat out1851
nobble1852
duff1863
flim-flam1890
1863 G. A. Sala Strange Adventures Capt. Dangerous III. ix. 305 Allowing him to duff me out of a few score pieces at the game of Lansquenet.
ΚΠ
1866 R. Hallam Wadsley Jack iii. 14 Sumhah or other he' duff'd trade's mark wi' one leg, for it wor streight.
1912 J. Malham-Dembleby Orig. Tales & Ballads Yorks. Dial. 51 Sha's duffed us sin t' forenoin when sha mun a passed wheer ye wor on t' moor.
a. To change one's mind, withdraw, or back out from a venture or undertaking; to ‘chicken out’. Also with on. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > cowardice or pusillanimity > be cowardly or show signs of cowardice [verb (intransitive)] > shirk or skulk
skulk1626
shirk1778
to funk out1859
duff1883
to chicken out1931
fink1966
wimp1981
cowardize2003
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > reversal of or forsaking one's will or purpose > reverse or abandon one's purpose [verb (intransitive)]
wendOE
divert1430
to turn one's tale1525
relent1528
revolt1540
resile?a1597
crinkle1612
to throw in (or up) one's cards1688
to box the compass1714
to turn round1808
crawfish1848
to back down1849
duff1883
back-pedal1891
punk1920
back-track1947
to back off1961
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from action [verb (intransitive)] > avoid > turn aside from a course of action > back out
resile1529
to back out1807
duff1883
duck1896
punk1920
squib1938
bug1952
weasel1956
to wuss out1976
1883 Weyvers awn Comic Olmenac (Pudsey) 19 Nah then, chaps, are ye reddy? t'rahm's crahded, an wun chap's been assing if ye've duft.
1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield (at cited word) ‘Tha's duff'd on it’, i.e. given in.
1886 J. Hartley Yorks. Tales 2nd Ser. 106 Rodger wor a bit ta'en aback, but he wor nooan gooin to duff, soa he shov'd his finger throo its lip an started off wi' her.
1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 118 Duff, to draw back from a bargain or undertaking; to throw it up. Also ti duff on't.
b. To lose a competition deliberately. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 118 Duff, to refrain from exerting oneself to win a race, etc.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
duffv.2
/dʌf/, U.S. /dəf/ colloquial and English regional (northern). Now somewhat rare.
intransitive. With up: to become foggy or hazy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [verb (intransitive)]
thicka1000
thicken1784
duff1876
to come down1891
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Duff up, to drift like road dust on a hot day.
1942 I. Gleed Arise to Conquer x. 94 The weather looks O.K... If it duffs up, Derek, give us a shower of Verey lights to show us the way to come home.
1960 D. Middleton Sky Suspended vii. 180 On the British aerodromes the pilots observed that the weather had ‘duffed up’, that is thick, low cloud was developing and there was a certain amount of ground haze.
2000 E. Weiss Chicken Run xi. 92 ‘But the weather duffed up,’ Fowler was saying excitedly.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
duffv.3
/dʌf/, U.S. /dəf/ Originally and chiefly Golf.
transitive and intransitive. To perform (a shot) badly (sometimes spec.: see quot. 1897). Also in extended use: to make a mess of (something), to muff.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > do something unskilfully [verb (intransitive)] > bungle
bungle1549
to put the wrong foot before1590
bebotch1609
to put one's foot in (also into) it1796
mess1823
boggle1853
to make a muff of oneself1884
duff1890
bobble1908
miscue1941
blow1943
to make a porridge (of)1969
sheg1981
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > be unskilled in [verb (transitive)] > bungle
botch1530
bungle1530
mumble1588
muddle1605
mash1642
bumble?1719
to fall through ——1726
fuck1776
blunder1805
to make a mull of1821
bitch1823
mess1823
to make a mess of1834
smudge1864
to muck up1875
boss1887
to make balls of1889
duff1890
foozle1892
bollocks1901
fluff1902
to make a muck of1903
bobble1908
to ball up1911
jazz1914
boob1915
to make a hash of1920
muff1922
flub1924
to make a hat of1925
to ass up1932
louse1934
screw1938
blow1943
to foul up1943
eff1945
balls1947
to make a hames of1947
to arse up1951
to fuck up1967
dork1969
sheg1981
bodge1984
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > play golf [verb (intransitive)] > types of stroke
putt1690
approach1887
duff1890
to drive the green1892
hack1893
sclaff1893
press1897
chip1903
bolt1909
to chip in1914
double-bogey1952
bogey1977
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > play golf [verb (transitive)] > type of play or stroke
drive1743
draw1842
heel1857
hook1857
loft1857
founder1878
to top a ball1881
chip1889
duff1890
pull1890
slice1890
undercut1891
hack1893
toe1893
spoon1896
borrow1897
overdrive1900
trickle1902
bolt1909
niblick1909
socket1911
birdie1921
eagle1921
shank1925
explode1926
bird1930
three-putt1946
bogey1948
double-bogey1952
fade1953
1890 [implied in: Golf 5 Dec. 179/1 When we know the circumstances of genuine play, it is very easy to pass from them to the corresponding characteristics of every-day duffing. (at duffing n.2)].
1895 W. Dalrymple Handbk. Golf 3 The innate malignant tendency to duff and muff, and sclaff and miss, and top and heel and toe.
1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport I. 469/1 The verb ‘to duff’ does not mean..to play as a ‘duffer’ or hopelessly bad player, but simply to hit the ground first, behind the ball, so that the ball is struck with the upper edge of the face, and sent only a short way into the air.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 30 Apr. 12/2 Mayo duffed his approach.
1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era 119/2 ‘He duffs everything he touches.’ ‘He is the most duffing duffer that ever duffed.’
1927 Sunday Express 29 May 21/6 The ninth provided Landale's crowning error, for he duffed two mashie shots.
1992 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Jrnl. 23 July c5/6 The pain was really excruciating when I went to hit the ball. I duffed two shots because of the pain.
2004 Golf Punk Dec. 39/2 Faced with a chip across the Valley of the Sin, the former factory worker stiffened every sinew and like a three-year-old gripping a golf club for the first time duffed his chip a matter of yards.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
duffv.4
/dʌf/, U.S. /dəf/ colloquial (originally and chiefly British).
transitive. Chiefly with up: to beat (a person) up, to thrash. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person
to-beatc893
threshOE
bustc1225
to lay on or upon?c1225
berrya1250
to-bunea1250
touchc1330
arrayc1380
byfrapc1380
boxc1390
swinga1400
forbeatc1420
peal?a1425
routa1425
noddlea1450
forslinger1481
wipe1523
trima1529
baste1533
waulk1533
slip1535
peppera1550
bethwack1555
kembc1566
to beat (a person) black and blue1568
beswinge1568
paik1568
trounce1568
canvass1573
swaddle?1577
bebaste1582
besoop1589
bumfeage1589
dry-beat1589
feague1589
lamback1589
clapperclaw1590
thrash1593
belam1595
lam1595
beswaddle1598
bumfeagle1598
belabour1600
tew1600
flesh-baste1611
dust1612
feeze1612
mill1612
verberate1614
bethumpa1616
rebuke1619
bemaul1620
tabor1624
maula1627
batterfang1630
dry-baste1630
lambaste1637
thunder-thump1637
cullis1639
dry-banga1640
nuddle1640
sauce1651
feak1652
cotton1654
fustigate1656
brush1665
squab1668
raddle1677
to tan (a person's) hide1679
slam1691
bebump1694
to give (a person) his load1694
fag1699
towel1705
to kick a person's butt1741
fum1790
devel1807
bray1808
to beat (also scare, etc.) someone's daylights out1813
mug1818
to knock (a person) into the middle of next week1821
welt1823
hidea1825
slate1825
targe1825
wallop1825
pounce1827
to lay into1838
flake1841
muzzle1843
paste1846
looder1850
frail1851
snake1859
fettle1863
to do over1866
jacket1875
to knock seven kinds of —— out of (a person)1877
to take apart1880
splatter1881
to beat (knock, etc.) the tar out of1884
to —— the shit out of (a person or thing)1886
to do up1887
to —— (the) hell out of1887
to beat — bells out of a person1890
soak1892
to punch out1893
stoush1893
to work over1903
to beat up1907
to punch up1907
cream1929
shellac1930
to —— the bejesus out of (a person or thing)1931
duff1943
clobber1944
to fill in1948
to bash up1954
to —— seven shades of —— out of (a person or thing)1976
to —— seven shades out of (a person or thing)1983
beast1990
becurry-
fan-
1943 ‘R. Llewellyn’ None but Lonely Heart xxxi. 226 If he tried duffing my lamp, I'd set about duffing his.
1961 Technology May 131/1 Jeff and Bill was duffed up on saterday at st Albans drillhall.
1993 G. Donaldson Ville 304 My people duffed him up.
2001 Traveltrade (Austral.) (Nexis) 16 May Small carriers have a job not to be duffed up by the big boys.
2012 D. Essex Over the Moon ii. 24 One boy was duffed up for wearing brown winkle-pickers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
duffint.n.6
/dʌf/, /dʊf/, U.S. /dəf/, /dʊf/ A. int.
Representing the sound of a dull blow, thud, or drumbeat. Frequently reduplicated. Cf. doof int.
ΚΠ
1858 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 28 322 Duff, duff, duff! bouncingly answered the bird, and duff, duff, duff! as bravely answered Bates.
1995 ‘Two Fingers’ & ‘J. T. Kirk’ Junglist (1997) 49 When you're EEEEing off your face and then tripping off your nut and the music goes: DUFF! DUFF! DUFF! DUFF!
1999 C. Creedon Passion Play xxvii. 242 He grabs your man by the hair, clings his face to the tiles... Then whamo off the sink and straight up, full force against the mirror... It was like, Duff! Duff! Duff! Three seconds. That's all it took. He falls to the floor.
2010 Southland Times (N.Z.) (Nexis) 6 Mar. 1 The no[i]siest nightclub was dead opposite. Duff, duff, duff!
B. n.6† 2. English regional (esp. Cornwall). A blow, a thump. Obsolete.
1. A sound resembling that of such a blow; a thud. Usually reduplicated. Cf. doof n.2, dowf n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > non-resonance > [noun] > non-resonant impact sound > thud
daud1596
sosh1687
soss1718
devel1787
dump1820
thud1825
duff1859
pob1871
thrump1871
clump1891
plonk1903
plodding1905
plup1911
wumph1913
whump1915
whomp1926
whumping1928
clonking1930
bonk1933
bonking1944
thuck1948
doof1989
1859 Titan 28 569/1 The skin which covers the drum-head..is relaxed, and the bold rowdy-dow becomes the husky and muffled ruff-duff-duff.
2003 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 9 Mar. 20 I couldn't hear anythin' over the duff-duff blastin' out of the stereo.
2015 Hull Daily Mail (Nexis) 29 Dec. 3 For most people, Christmas television is a mix of festive films, comedy specials and the inevitable ‘duff duff’ before the EastEnders credits roll.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific degree of force > [noun] > striking heavily > a heavy blow > and dull
thump1552
bump1582
dousea1600
dousta1627
dub1837
duff1866
1866 T. R. Higham Dial. between Two Cornish Miners 16 She gove Blondin a duff in the belly.
1895 J. Thomas Randigal Rhymes 82 Duff, a blow; a blow on a cow's udder with a calf's nose.
1899 H. Kingsford in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1900) II. 203/1 [South Worcestershire] 'E gen 'im a duff o' th' yud.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11724n.21781
n.31822n.41828n.5?1837n.71941adj.1889v.11750v.21876v.31890v.41943int.n.61858