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.

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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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

A duff pass from Tommy Freeman drew the first groan from the stands inside 30 seconds.

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2025

But something transformative occurs in a primordial world where a sorrel-carpeted floor and waist-high sword ferns surround towering redwoods, where duff from the needles floats above the understory like soft snow.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 1, 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

Out under the trees, some rangers had found enough duff and dry wood to start a fire beneath a slanting ridge of slate.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin