Jump to:

• dif
  dif

  noun

  difference.
• dif-
  dif-

  variant of dis- before f: differ.
• dif.
  dif.

  abbreviation

  difference.

dif

¹ American  

[dif] / dɪf /

noun

Informal.

1. difference.

   What's the dif where you buy it, as long as you get it?

---

dif- ² American  

1. variant of dis- before f: differ.

---

dif. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. difference.

2. different.

---

Etymology

Origin of dif

First recorded in 1910–15; by shortening

Example Sentences

Simply creating HITs to send out spam email would be pointlessly dif- ficult and expensive compared to easy and massively automated processes such as botnets.

From Scientific American • Jun. 20, 2013

The grand jury had questioned Russell Sherwood, Walker's fiscal agent, nine dif- ferent times without eliciting sufficient evidence to charge a crime.

From Time Magazine Archive

Once you stepped in, though, it was a dif- ferent story.

From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen

NOTE.—The forms di- and dif- are euphonic forms of dis-; dif- is used before a root beginning with a vowel.

From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton

Now, I’ll tell you another peculiar case that worked out dif- ferendy, and which taught me something I have since learned in a thousand other ways.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey