tuft

[tuhft]

noun

1. a bunch or cluster of small, usually soft and flexible parts, as feathers or hairs, attached or fixed closely together at the base and loose at the upper ends.

2. a cluster of short, fluffy threads, used to decorate cloth, as for a bedspread, robe, bath mat, or window curtain.

3. a cluster of cut threads, used as a decorative finish attached to the tying or holding threads of mattresses, quilts, upholstery, etc.

4. a covered or finished button designed for similar use.

5. a cluster of short-stalked flowers, leaves, etc., growing from a common point.

6. a small clump of bushes, trees, etc.

7. a gold tassel on the cap formerly worn at English universities by titled undergraduates.

8. a titled undergraduate at an English university.

verb (used with object)

1. to furnish or decorate with a tuft or tufts.

2. to arrange in a tuft or tufts.

3. Upholstery.,  to draw together (a cushion or the like) by passing a thread through at regular intervals, the depressions thus produced being usually ornamented with tufts or buttons.

verb (used without object)

1. to form into or grow in a tuft or tufts.

tuft

/ tʌft /

noun

1. a bunch of feathers, grass, hair, etc, held together at the base

2. a cluster of threads drawn tightly through upholstery, a mattress, a quilt, etc, to secure and strengthen the padding

3. a small clump of trees or bushes

4. (formerly) a gold tassel on the cap worn by titled undergraduates at English universities

5. a person entitled to wear such a tassel

verb

1. (tr) to provide or decorate with a tuft or tufts

2. to form or be formed into tufts

3. to secure and strengthen (a mattress, quilt, etc) with tufts

Other Word Forms

• tufter noun
• tufty adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tuft¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, variant of toft(e), from Middle French tofe, toffe, of uncertain origin; English excrescent t as in against

Word History and Origins

Origin of tuft¹

C14: perhaps from Old French tufe , of Germanic origin; compare _top ¹

Example Sentences

And after the rains, some have already begun to leaf — welcome tufts of green to the charred landscape.

From Los Angeles Times

"He forgot the eyes at first, so we got him a carrot, put the nose on and he put some eyes on and gave it a little hair tuft," she explained.

From BBC

In it is a tuft of Mason's hair and she then shows everyone his handprints, made following his death.

From BBC

Then there are the changes that feel closer to a Cronenbergian freakout: curiously dense new tufts of back hair, slightly sharper teeth, a body count of dead critters each morning on the doorstep.

From Los Angeles Times

In 2001, there were only 62 mature Iberian lynx — medium-sized, mottled brown cats with characteristic pointed ears and a pair of beard-like tufts of facial hair — on the Iberian Peninsula.

From Seattle Times