Showing results for "duff"

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Slang dictionary results for duff.

duff

¹ American  

[duhf] / dʌf /

noun

Slang.

1. the buttocks or rump.

   If you don't like the way things are, get off your duff and do something about it!

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duff ² American  

[duhf] / dʌf /

noun

1. a stiff flour pudding, boiled or steamed and often flavored with currants, citron, and spices.

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duff ³ American  

[duhf] / dʌf /

verb (used with object)

Slang.

duffs, present (3rd person singular) duffed, past participle, past duffing present participle

1. to give a deliberately deceptive appearance to; misrepresent; fake.

2. 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.

3. Australian.

   1. to steal (cattle).

   2. (formerly) to alter the brand on (stolen cattle).

4. to cheat someone.

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duff ⁴ American  

[duhf] / dʌf /

noun

1. organic matter in various stages of decomposition on the floor of the forest.

2. fine, dry coal, especially anthracite.

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duff ¹ British  

/ dʌf /

verb

1. slang to change the appearance of or give a false appearance to (old or stolen goods); fake

2. slang to steal (cattle), altering the brand

3. Also: sclaff.  informal golf to bungle (a shot) by hitting the ground behind the ball

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adjective

1. informal bad or useless, as by not working out or operating correctly; dud

   a duff idea

   a duff engine

duff ² British  

/ dʌf /

noun

1. a thick flour pudding, often flavoured with currants, citron, etc, and boiled in a cloth bag

   plum duff

2. slang pregnant

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duff ³ British  

/ dʌf /

noun

1. slang the rump or buttocks

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• duffing
  present
• duffed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• duff
  simple
• duffs
  simple
• have duffed
  perfect
• has duffed
  perfect
• am duffing
  progressive
• are duffing
  progressive
• is duffing
  progressive
• have been duffing
  perfect progressive
• has been duffing
  perfect progressive

Past

• duffed
  simple
• had duffed
  perfect
• was duffing
  progressive
• were duffing
  progressive
• had been duffing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will duff
  simple
• will have duffed
  perfect
• will be duffing
  progressive
• will have been duffing
  perfect progressive

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

Andrew agreed the Welsh accent is trustworthy, but said he would have spotted Charlotte's duff Welsh accent from a mile off.

From BBC • Jan. 3, 2025

“The duff will give you a pungent, resonant, very bright sound,” he said.

From New York Times • Feb. 21, 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

Conditions today are on the cusp, he warns me as he grabs damp duff from beneath a stand of alders and stuffs it into a garbage bag.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 19, 2022

When he got to the pines he knelt and laid him in the gritty duff and covered him with the blankets and sat watching him.

From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy