reefer

[ree-fer]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR reefer ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Nautical. a person who reefs.

a short, close-fitting coat or jacket of thick cloth, similar to a pea jacket.

a woman's tailored, fitted, single- or double-breasted coat of durable material with a collar.

Origin of reefer

First recorded in 1820–30; reef² + -er¹

reefer

[ree-fer]

noun Slang.

a marijuana cigarette.

Origin of reefer

1930–35; probably < Mexican Spanish grifa; see griefo

reefer

[ree-fer]

noun Informal.

a refrigerator, especially one large enough to be walked into.

a refrigerator car, ship, truck, etc.

Origin of reefer

First recorded in 1910–15; alteration and shortening of refrigerator

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for reefer

dope, cannabis, hashish, tea, hemp, herb, bhang, blazer, pot, smoke, hash, joint, reefer, weed, ganja, roach, grass, puff, butt, cubeb

Examples from the Web for reefer

Contemporary Examples of reefer

“We were taught with Reefer Madness that it was a hard-core drug and we should veer away from it,” she says.
Ganjapreneurs Line Up to Get Florida High
Abby Haglage
July 30, 2014
Hemp, too close to reefer madness for comfort, was one of them.
Kentucky Tells Feds: Hands Off Our Hemp!
Abby Haglage
May 21, 2014
Armstrong told Harold that reefer was "medicine for headaches, toothaches, and the blues," advice Conrad took to heart.
The Stacks: Harold Conrad Was Many Things, But He Was Never, Ever Dull
Mark Jacobson
March 8, 2014
University of Colorado cracks down on 4/20 reefer madness, but a few students still manage to party.
No Rocky Mountain High in Boulder, Colorado
Annie Melton
April 21, 2012

Historical Examples of reefer

He went into his bedroom and returned with a heavy "reefer" jacket.
Cy Whittaker's Place
Joseph C. Lincoln
When it cleared off, put on and reefer, and rubber boots, and went out.
Jimmy Crow
Edith Francis Foster
The crackle of the legal paper in his reefer pocket only accentuated his gloom.
Blow The Man Down
Holman Day
He acknowledged that it was bad enough to kill a dog, but that a reefer could stand it.
Rattlin the Reefer
Edward Howard
The names of the captured gunboats were Nonata, Bonita and Reefer.
The War With Mexico, Volume I (of 2)
Justin H. Smith

British Dictionary definitions for reefer

reefer

noun

nautical a person who reefs, such as a midshipman

another name for reefing jacket

slang a hand-rolled cigarette, esp one containing cannabis

Word Origin for reefer

C19: from reef ²; applied to the cigarette because of its resemblance to the rolled reef of a sail

reefer

noun

a ship, lorry, or other form of transport designed to carry refrigerated cargo

Word Origin for reefer

C20: shortened and adapted from refrigerator

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for reefer

"marijuana cigarette," 1920s, perhaps an alteration of Mexican Spanish grifo "marijuana, drug addict" [OED]; or perhaps from reef (v.), on resemblance to a rolled sail. It also meant "pickpocket" in criminal slang (1935). Reefer also was a nickname for "midshipman" (1818) "because they attend in the tops during the operation of reefing" [Century Dictionary], which is the source of the meaning "coat of a nautical cut" (1878) worn by sailors and fishermen "but copied for general use in the fashions of 1888-90" [CD].

reefer in Medicine

reefer

[rē′fər]

n.

Marijuana, especially a marijuana cigarette.