fluffn.1
/flʌf/, U.S. /fləf/ 1.
a. Light, feathery, flocculent stuff, such as the downy particles that separate from dressed wool.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > types of softness > [noun] > softness and downiness or fluffiness > downy or fluffy substance
down1542
flue1589
lanugo1677
fluff1790
oose1822
1790 F. Grose Provinc. Gloss. (ed. 2) Fluff, down. The fluff of a peach. Kent.
1818 J. Brown Psyche 171 Some fluff upon his cousin's cape.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Fluff, any light, flying, downy, gossamer-like stuff.
1880 W. D. Howells Undiscovered Country xii. 173 A little fluff under the bed or a spot on the floor would have been a comfort to her.
b. The soft fur of a rabbit or other animal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > covering or skin > [noun] > coat > hair, wool, or fur > soft fur
fluff1883
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > parts of or fur
scut1530
almond1627
fluff1883
1883 F. C. Gould in Leisure Hour 613/2 They sneaked back..with rabbits' fluff in their jaws.
c. ? Soft feathery material for dress.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric with specific qualities > [noun] > thin, light, or delicate > for clothing
crisp1397
peeling1671
barége1828
Henrietta cloth1842
Tibet1857
piuma1858
crystalline1867
fluff1875
nun's veiling1882
zenana1890
voilette1908
Palm Beach1911
1875 Ld. Tennyson Queen Mary i. iv. 30 If this Prince of fluff and feather come To woo you.
d. Usually bit of fluff (cf. bit n.2 and adj.2 Phrases 2a(b)(iv)): a young woman. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun]
daughterOE
maidenOE
young womanOE
mayc1175
burdc1225
maidc1275
wenchc1290
file1303
virginc1330
girla1375
damselc1380
young ladya1393
jilla1425
juvenclec1430
young person1438
domicellea1464
quean1488
trull1525
pulleta1533
Tib1533
kittyc1560
dell1567
gillian1573
nymph1584
winklota1586
frotion1587
yuffrouw1589
pigeon1592
tit1599
nannicock1600
muggle1608
gixy1611
infanta1611
dilla1627
tittiea1628
whimsy1631
ladykin1632
stammel1639
moggie1648
zitellaa1660
baggagea1668
miss1668
baby1684
burdie1718
demoiselle1720
queanie?1800
intombi1809
muchacha1811
jilt1816
titter1819
ragazza1827
gouge1828
craft1829
meisie1838
sheila1839
sixteenc1840
chica1843
femme1846
muffin1854
gel1857
quail1859
kitten1870
bud1880
fräulein1883
sub-debutante1887
sweet-and-twenty1887
flapper1888
jelly1889
queen1894
chick1899
pusher1902
bit of fluff1903
chicklet1905
twist and twirl1905
twist1906
head1913
sub-deb1916
tabby1916
mouse1917
tittie1918
chickie1919
wren1920
bim1922
nifty1923
quiff1923
wimp1923
bride1924
job1927
junior miss1927
hag1932
tab1932
sort1933
palone1934
brush1941
knitting1943
teenybopper1966
weeny-bopper1972
Valley Girl1982
the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [noun] > prettiness > specifically of woman > pretty girl or woman
primerolea1350
jolyvet1413
prim1509
nicebeceturc1520
bit of stuff?1553
nicebice1595
dabchick1612
rosebud1668
doll1778
living doll1785
a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823
a bit (also piece) of all right1895
bit of fluff1903
dolly1906
baby doll1908
cutiea1911
cutie-pie1920
kewpie1946
tchotchke1968
tchotchkeleh1985
1903 ‘Marjoribanks’ Fluff-hunters 11 The guard was about to whistle, when a bit of fluff was blown up the platform, and, before Webster had had time to send up a petition for a safe journey, it (the fluff) had come to rest on the corner seat opposite him.
1919 W. Deeping Second Youth xxiv. 207 Got a little party on, you know, two bits of fashionable fluff.
1937 W. S. Maugham Theatre xiv. 120 It was strangely flattering for a woman to be treated as a little bit of fluff that you just tumbled on to a bed.
1961 P. G. Wodehouse Service with Smile ii. 42 His ball of fluff will be there.
e. A kind of wheat.
Π
1922 Glasgow Herald 30 Mar. 11 Good white Kent fluffs.
2.
a. A soft, downy mass or bunch.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > types of softness > [noun] > softness and downiness or fluffiness > mass
fuzz1674
fuff1700
fluff1862
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > mass formed by collection of particles > soft
pat1651
fluff1862
1862 J. W. Carlyle Lett. (1883) III. 127 Larks come with feathers all in a fluff.
1885 ‘E. Garrett’ At Any Cost xv. 277 A young woman..with a fluff of golden hair about her face.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles II. xxiii. 27 All this fluff of muslin about you.
b. Something downy and feathery.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > feather > [noun] > down or down-feather > bird that is covered in
fluff1870
1870 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows (1886) 46 Tiny fluffs of feathered life.
1883 T. Gray in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 129 Sometimes he [Edison] used what he describes as a fluff, that is, a little brush of silk fibre.
3. slang.
a. On railways (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 166 Fluff, railway ticket clerks' slang for short change given by them. The profits thus accruing are called ‘fluffings’, and the practice is known as ‘fluffing’.
1890 Star 27 Jan. 2/4 Many porters on this line are but getting 15s. per week, and with regard to ‘tips’, or, as we say ‘fluff’—well [etc.].
b. Theatre ‘“Lines” half learned and imperfectly delivered’ (Farmer). Also, a mistake made when broadcasting, playing music, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > words spoken by actors > types of
cue1553
anteloquy1623
aside1728
catchword1755
side soliloquy1842
gag1847
gravy1864
fluff1891
laugh line1913
rhubarb1919
curtain line1939
walla1949
1891 World 3 June 28/1 Even as seen through a veil of ‘fluff’, the burlesque is irresistibly amusing.
1937 Variety Radio Directory 1937–8 342 Fluff, missing a cue, or muffing a gag.
1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 253 Fluff, a small accidental error in operational work or in speech.
1967 Word Study Oct. 2/2 The announcer's fluff: ‘Kids, be sure Mother is stopped [stocked] up with Kellogg's Pep.’
1970 Daily Tel. 28 Oct. 12/7 In spite of a surprising number of fluffs, there was some excellent playing.
c. A bungling of a stroke or movement in games; a mistake, a blunder.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of play, actions, or postures > [noun] > mistake
bobble1887
fluff1928
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [noun] > unskilful action or working > a bungle
miscarriage1590
bungle1656
bumble1823
boggle1834
muff1867
car wreck1877
mismove1877
miscue1882
muddle1884
bobble1887
mess-up1902
floater1913
bollock1919
fluff1928
balls-up1929
muck-up1930
balls1938
snafu1943
foul-up1944
fuck-up1949
clusterfuck1969
car crash1992
dumpster fire2008
omnishambles2009
1928 Daily Express 10 May 10/2 Walter Hagen..hit a [golf] ball no more than a couple of yards... There is nothing malicious in the way the mind fixes on that two-yard ‘fluff’.
1960 Times 21 Mar. 3/3 In addition he achieved four astonishing place kicks, which made his costly fluff against France unbelievable.
1970 Guardian 5 Aug. 18/8 Naturally, the Manson defence lawyers leaped on the fluff as an outrage.
Draft additions 1993
figurative. Something insubstantial or trifling, esp. journalism or other writing, usually of a sentimental nature.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > insubstantial
triflec1290
vainc1330
winda1382
vapour1382
gossamer?a1400
visevase1481
good morrow1542
cobweb1579
superficial1579
puff1583
bladder1589
blathery1591
froth1594
bag of winda1599
moth1600
nominala1625
tumour1630
windlestraw1637
vacuity1648
balloon1656
blank1678
breath bubble1835
nominality1842
fluff1906
cotton candy1931
society > communication > journalism > journal > matter of or for journals > [noun] > space-filler or insubstantial writing
Balaam1826
space-filler1886
fluff1906
society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [noun] > worthless or trivial
pap1548
scribble1577
scribbling1711
dab1729
scribblement1785
fluff1906
non-book1960
1906 R. Fry Let. 11 Feb. (1972) I. 249 Having to see reporters..and being careful to give them a lot of fluff with nothing inside it.
1979 Amer. Notes & Queries Nov. 41/1 The more immediate monetary rewards to be gained by starring in a piece of unchallenging romantic fluff.
1986 New Yorker 22 Dec. 75/3 Bloom says he was the paper's ‘fluff specialist’ for a while—the reporter papers depend on to write their way out of a story on the first day of spring or..the new baby giraffe.
1990 N. De Mille Gold Coast xxix. 405 The U.S. Attorney's office had complained vigorously about media sensationalism and too much human-interest fluff.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fluffn.2
/flʌf/, U.S. /fləf/, Scottish English /flʌf/ Scottish and northern dialect.
A puff; a quick, short blast, a whiff; a slight explosion. literal and figurative.
ΚΠ
1819 J. Rennie St. Patrick III. i. 31 I'm sure an ye warna a fish or something war, ye could never a' keepit ae fluff o' breath in the body o' ye in aneath the loch.
1871 C. Gibbon For Lack of Gold I. x. 142 You'll see how cozily we'll blaze together to a white ash, and go off at the same minute with a fluff of affection.
1871 C. Gibbon For Lack of Gold I. xviii. 265 The nuts leapt off with a ‘fluff’.
Compounds
fluff-gib n. a squib, ‘explosion of gunpowder’ (Jamieson).
ΚΠ
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy III. iv. 108 Wi' fighting, and flashes, and fluf-gibs.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fluffv.1
/flʌf/, U.S. /fləf/ 1. transitive. Leather Manufacturing. (See quot. 1882) Cf. buff v.3 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with skins > work with skins [verb (transitive)] > clean hide > remove flesh
flesh1777
fluff1882
1882 J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. XIV. 387/1 The flesh side is whitened or fluffed.
2. To make into fluff, pick into oakum.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > rope-making > make rope [verb (transitive)] > other specific processes
lay1486
throw?c1625
register1793
re-lay1804
warp1815
to lay upc1860
tube1863
wimble1874
strand1886
fluff1892
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 14 Mar. 2/2 Looking up from the rope I was fluffing.
3. To shake out or up into a soft mass like fluff. Also reflexive (of a bird): To shake or puff out its feathers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [verb (reflexive)] > shake feathers
fluff1875
the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > expand or enlarge [verb (intransitive)] > fluff out or up
bush1587
fluff1875
the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > expand or enlarge [verb (transitive)] > fluff out or up
fluff1875
pouf1947
1875 L. Troubridge Jrnl. in Life amongst Troubridges (1966) x. 103 Her black hair combed right down over her fore~head and fluffed out behind.
1885 A. Brassey In Trades 137 The ‘Johnny Crows’..fluff and plume and dust themselves without cessation.
1885 O. T. Miller in Harper's Mag. Mar. 599 He [a bird] fluffs himself out into a ball.
1887 Poor Nellie (1888) 265 The young ladies showed off the silky satins..then fluffed them up into a kind of pyramid.
1893 ‘S. Grand’ Heavenly Twins (1894) 279 She..fluffed her hair out till her head seemed preposterously large.
4. intransitive.
a. To move or float softly like fluff.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > motion in the air > move in the air [verb (intransitive)] > gently
roll1614
fan1622
waft1664
fluff1888
1888 W. C. Russell Death Ship III. 221 'Twas a..fog..fluffing thick and soft as feathers about the ship.
b. To settle down like a ball or mass of fluff.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > move downwards [verb (intransitive)] > descend and settle > like fluff
fluff1872
1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table iii, in Atlantic Monthly Mar. 338/1 She gave the music-stool a twirl or two and fluffed down on to it like a whirl of soap-suds in a hand-basin.
5. Slang.
Categories »
a. fluff it! (see quot. 1859).
Categories »
b. (of railway booking-clerks) To give short change.
Categories »
c. To disconcert, ‘floor’ (a public speaker); (cf. fluff v.2 1a).
d. (Theatre) To blunder one's part. Also, to make mistakes in broadcasting, playing music, etc.; to mispronounce, play wrongly (a phrase, note, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > act [verb (intransitive)] > blunder one's part
fluff1859
1859 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang Fluff it, a term of disapprobation implying ‘take it away, I don't want it’.
1884 G. Moore Mummer's Wife xx. 286 Mortimer was drunk, did not know his words, and went ‘fluffing’ all over the shop.
1936 H. Herd Press Days i. 20 I had a good natural memory and could be relied upon [in reciting] not to fluff my lines.
1946 Penguin Music Mag. Dec. 71 But, if you are in his orchestra, don't fluff that phrase next morning.
1955 Times 11 May 15/1 He loomed nearer in a closeup to tell viewers (fluffing his lines a little) about the decision of the three Great Powers to invite Russia to join in four-Power talks.
1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ix. 186 I had kept fluffing when I practised them [sc. songs].
1967 Word Study Oct. 3/1 Steve Allen fluffed one time in advertising Dunhills: ‘They're much, much wilder [milder].’
e. To bungle (esp. a stroke or movement in games); to make a mistake; to fail (an examination). (Cf. duff v.3)
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of play, actions, or postures > [verb (transitive)] > bungle or fumble
muff1846
mull1862
fluff1902
bobble1908
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 > education > educational administration > examination > examine a candidate [verb (transitive)] > fail an examination
skew1859
fail1906
pip1908
fluff1955
1902 Westm. Gaz. 30 Apr. 7/3 Blain played first, and topped his shot into the bunker. Hilton then played, half-fluffed his.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 10 June 12/3 He skied his second into the rough at the third, and then fluffed his approach.
1915 H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1917) xv. 264 If it proves that I have fluffed my catch, rely upon me to use extreme measures.
1944 ‘N. Shute’ Pastoral i. 18 I fluffed the twelfth and lost a ball.
1955 Amer. Speech 30 303 Fluff, flunk (an exam), or make a mistake of any kind.
1959 G. Jenkins Twist of Sand viii. 148 There's a new attack plan. I don't want it fluffed, like the other.
1971 Daily Tel. 6 Aug. 11/5 Many school~children..awaiting their summer exam results have now got this particular worry. Has mother fluffed hers—or has she got through?
1971 Times 17 Sept. 6/4 Palmer fluffed it because there was a hedge where his backswing should have gone.
f. intransitive. To bluff, to lie; also transitive, to falsify (accounts, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > dishonesty > [verb (transitive)] > by falsifying
rig1826
fluff1902
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lie, tell lies [verb (intransitive)] > be evasive
varyc1430
revolt1577
sklent1581
equivocate1590
fluff1902
bullshit1942
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > trickery, playing jokes > practise trickery [verb (intransitive)] > using bluff
to play a game of brag1845
gas1847
bluff1854
to run a bluff on1887
four-flush1896
fluff1902
blag1991
society > morality > moral evil > lack of principle or integrity > be unprincipled in [verb (transitive)] > manage in underhand manner
rig1826
wangle1888
fluff1957
1902 E. Nesbit Five Children & It x. 268 We must pretend like mad. Like that game of cards where you pretend you've got aces when you haven't. Fluffing, they call it.
1941 M. Allingham Traitor's Purse xiv. 159 You're up to something you don't want me to know about... Don't fluff.
1955 M. Gilbert Sky High xv. 209 Watch him..he's fluffing... He's acting. Dangerous man. Don't relax.
1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Oct. 603/2 If he had chosen to fluff the accounts, or to render none, he would not have exposed himself.
g. Of railway porters: (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 127.
1926 Westm. Gaz. 7 Jan. ‘Fluffing’—that is, unauthorized tip-hunting by railway men—must stop, by order of the National Union of Railwaymen.
1966 H. Sheppard Dict. Railway Slang (ed. 2) 5 Fluffing, selection of rich passengers by off duty employees.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
fluffv.2
/flʌf/, U.S. /fləf/, Scottish English /flʌf/ Scottish.
1.
a. transitive. To knock out of breath; to cause to pant. Only in passive.
ΚΠ
1790 A. Shirrefs Poems 21 But yet, nae ferly gin I'm fluff'd.
b. intransitive. To puff, pant.
ΚΠ
1813 J. Hogg Queen's Wake i. viii. 75 We borit the breiste of the burstyng swale, Or fluffit i' the flotyng faem.
c. To make a fuss.
ΚΠ
1889 E. Lynn Linton Thro' Long Night I. ii. i. 310 She had often fluffed and fumed to Anne over that provision of her father's will.
2. transitive. To make (gunpowder) ignite and go off. Also to fluff in the pan. Cf. flash v.1 5c.
ΚΠ
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. (at cited word) To fluff powder, to burn gun-powder; to make it fly off, S.
1855 J. Ogilvie Suppl. Imperial Dict. Fluffed i' the pan, burned priming without firing the barrel of the gun or pistol [Scotch].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11790
n.21817v.11859v.21790