scuff
- to scrape (something) with one's foot or feet.
- to rub or scrape (one's foot or feet) over something.
- to mar by scraping or hard use, as shoes or furniture.
- Chiefly Scot.
- to brush against, as in passing.
- to brush off; wipe off.
- to walk without raising the feet from the ground; shuffle.
- to scrape or rub one's foot back and forth over something.
- to be or become marred or scratched by scraping or wear.
- (of machine parts, as gear teeth) to creep from pressure and friction so that ridges appear transversely to the direction of wear.
- the act or sound of scuffing.
- a flat-heeled slipper with a full-length sole and an upper part covering only the front of the foot.
- a marred or scratched place on an item, as from scraping or wear.
Origin of scuff
Related Words for scuff
disorder, disturb, confuse, shift, disarray, disorganize, scuffle, intermix, change, discompose, jumble, dislocate, disrupt, shamble, disarrangeExamples from the Web for scuff
Contemporary Examples of scuff
You need some scuff marks from the great merry-go-round we call life.
Scuff it up, patinate it, so that it feels more physically, viscerally real, and a little less perfect.
Historical Examples of scuff
I thought I ought to cough or scuff my feet or something, but it seemed too late for that.
"Oh, I'm too happy to scuff," and she kicked off the other rubber.
JewelClara Louise Burnham
I scuff and stamp the snow away and pull it open with difficulty.
Adventures In FriendshipDavid Grayson
In the lightlessness, and above the wailing of the terrified people about them, they could hear the scuff of running feet.
Second SightBasil Eugene Wells
"You could scuff it and I could wear myself out cleanin', I suppose," retorted Jane.
The Poor Little Rich GirlEleanor Gates
scuff
- to scrape or drag (the feet) while walking
- to rub or scratch (a surface) or (of a surface) to become rubbed or scratched
- (tr) US to poke at (something) with the foot
- the act or sound of scuffing
- a rubbed place caused by scuffing
- a backless slipper
Word Origin for scuff
Word Origin and History for scuff
1768, "to walk (through or over something) without raising the feet," from Scottish, probably from a Scandinavian source related to Old Norse skufa, skyfa "to shove, push aside," from PIE *skeubh- "to shove" (see shove (v.)). Meaning "injure the surface of" is from 1897. Related: Scuffed; scuffing. As a noun from 1824.