duff
1 Americannoun
noun
verb (used with object)
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duffs,
present (3rd person singular)
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duffed,
past participle, past
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duffing
present participle
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to give a deliberately deceptive appearance to; misrepresent; fake.
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British. (in golf ) to misplay (a golf ball), especially to misjudge one's swing so that the club strikes the ground behind the ball before hitting it.
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Australian.
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to steal (cattle).
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(formerly) to alter the brand on (stolen cattle).
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to cheat someone.
noun
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organic matter in various stages of decomposition on the floor of the forest.
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fine, dry coal, especially anthracite.
verb
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slang to change the appearance of or give a false appearance to (old or stolen goods); fake
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slang to steal (cattle), altering the brand
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Also: sclaff. informal golf to bungle (a shot) by hitting the ground behind the ball
adjective
noun
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a thick flour pudding, often flavoured with currants, citron, etc, and boiled in a cloth bag
plum duff
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slang pregnant
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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duffsimple
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duffssimple
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have duffedperfect
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has duffedperfect
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am duffingprogressive
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are duffingprogressive
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is duffingprogressive
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have been duffingperfect progressive
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has been duffingperfect progressive
Past
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duffedsimple
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had duffedperfect
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was duffingprogressive
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were duffingprogressive
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had been duffingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of duff1
First recorded in 1885–90; expressive word, perhaps akin to doup
Origin of duff2
First recorded in 1830–40; dialectal variant ( Scots, North England) of dough
Origin of duff3
First recorded in 1830–40; back formation from duffer, in the slang senses “something inferior or counterfeit” or “a peddler of inferior goods”
Origin of duff4
First recorded in 1835–45; originally Scots dialect; perhaps metaphorical use of duff 2, by association with Scots dowf “decayed, rotten,” deaf “(of soil) unproductive, springy to the tread”; see dowf
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A duff pass from Tommy Freeman drew the first groan from the stands inside 30 seconds.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2025
Now, young stages of butterflies, moths and other beneficial insects are nestled in last year’s leaves, some of them munching on decomposing duff — leaves, twigs, bark and other plant litter.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2023
The duff — needles, branches and other plant detritus — is 2 to 3 feet deep in some parts of the Angeles National Forest, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2022
When conditions are dry, said Zav Grabinski with the Alaska Fire Science Consortium, flames can travel below the surface of the duff for several kilometers.
From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2022
And again he breathed in the green in the strawberry runners, the rain in the cedar duff, and the salt water.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Eight or more duffs were used for the beats, primarily supported by timpani and other percussion from a synthesizer and mandolins for the melody, along with further processed elements.
From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2023
But, perhaps most importantly, she’s here to remind others to get off their duffs and out into the world, no matter their ages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2021
He leaves his second short and right, then, to pantomime gasps from the gallery, duffs a chip into the face of a bank.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 15, 2021
But nobody will ever discover those capabilities if Siri duffs the basics on an equally regular basis.
From The Verge ● Sep. 14, 2020
“We aren’t just going to sit around on our fat duffs and do nothing, are we?”
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
"I'd boo me too," laughed The Open champion before he hurried and subsequently duffed the return.
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2025
“Out here, I chunked my chip and some guy was like, ‘Dang, he duffed it.’
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 4, 2021
That’s twice the Wallabies have duffed the restart, this time it’s Koroibete who’s the culprit.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 11, 2019
Baseball players are better prepared to deal with objects flying in their general direction, though we’d probably see far more errant pitches and duffed fly balls in a slingshot-addled pastime.
From Slate ● May 29, 2018
And how he duffed in in the other department!
From The Story of Leather by Sara Ware Bassett
BROADCASTER: He went into his previous Masters duffing chips all over the place, yet he was fine when he got there, so you can never tell with him.
From Golf Digest ● Mar. 13, 2018
He can’t make it nine consecutive points on his serve, duffing another lob into the net, but he holds to 15 with a booming ace down the middle.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 29, 2016
When they got down to hitting a golf ball, Fowler was the first to cock it up, duffing his greenside chip to gift the best player in the world first blood after just five minutes.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 28, 2014
England's agony has gone on, day after day, like that same golfer being forced to play round after failing round, an Open every week, duffing drives and missing putts, swing in pieces, galleries guffawing.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2013
"By the way," said I; "did n't you blame Thompson and Cunningham for duffing in your horse-paddock, ten or twelve months ago?"
From Such Is Life by Joseph Furphy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
