scruff1
[skruhf]
- the nape or back of the neck.
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Origin of scruff1
1780–90; variant of dial. scuff, scuft < Dutch schoft horse's withers
scruff2
[skruhf]
- (in tin-plating) dross formed in the bath.
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Origin of scruff2
metathetic variant of scurf
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
froth, collar, residue, crust, dross, spume, waste, algae, film, scruff, strait, cape, cervix, nape, isthmusExamples from the Web for scruff
Contemporary Examples
He identifies as transgender on Scruff but not always on Grindr.
Scruff believes that sex is not the primary concern of users.
He was as striking in person as he is on screen—thin, white v-neck t-shirt, two-day scruff, artful bedhead.
At the end of the month, participants, called Mo Bros and their supporters, Mo Sistas, shave their scruff and have a party.
Historical Examples
And with that he seized me again by the scruff of the neck and shook me.
Hidden HandEmma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth
So we adopted a more pressing plan, and coaxed him out by the scruff of his neck.
Novel NotesJerome K. Jerome
She came to and tried to bite me, but I had her by the scruff of the neck and she couldn't.
IT and Other StoriesGouverneur Morris
When dinner-time came we had to be dragged in by the scruff of our necks.
Dream DaysKenneth Grahame
Bucky would drag you back by the scruff of the neck in two weeks.
Crooked Trails and StraightWilliam MacLeod Raine
scruff1
- the nape of the neck (esp in the phrase by the scruff of the neck)
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Word Origin
C18: variant of scuft, perhaps from Old Norse skoft hair; related to Old High German scuft
scruff2
- informal an untidy scruffy person
- informal a disreputable person, ruffian
- another name for scum (def. 3)
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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 scruff
n.
"nape of the neck," 1790, altered (by influence of scruff "crust") from scuft (1787), probably related to North Frisian skuft "back of the neck of a horse" and Dutch schoft "withers of a horse," from a common Germanic source (cf. Old Norse skopt "hair of the head," Gothic skuft, Middle High German schopf, German Schopf). Another theory holds it to be a variant of scurf.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper