cuff

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /kʌf/ (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /kɐf/ (Northern England) IPA(key): /kʊf/ Rhymes: -ʌf === Etymology 1 === From Middle English cuffe, coffe (“glove, mitten”), of obscure origin. Perhaps from Old English cuffie (“hood, cap”), from Medieval Latin cofia, cofea, cuffa, cuphia (“helmet, headdress, hood, cap”), from Frankish *kuf(f)ja (“headdress”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuffju, from Proto-Germanic *kupjō (“cap”). Cognate with Middle High German kupfe (“cap”). ==== Noun ==== cuff (plural cuffs) (obsolete) Glove; mitten The end of a shirt sleeve that covers the wrist. The end of a pants leg when folded up. A surgical procedure in which parts of the body that were not previously connected are stitched together. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed) (transitive) To furnish with cuffs. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== cufflinks turnup off-the-cuff === Etymology 2 === Clipping of handcuff. ==== Noun ==== cuff (plural cuffs) (informal, plural only) A handcuff. ==== Verb ==== cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed) (transitive) To handcuff. (transitive, slang) To enter into a committed romantic relationship with (someone). ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 3 === 1520, “to hit”, apparently of North Germanic origin, from Norwegian kuffa (“to push, shove”) or Swedish kuffa (“to knock, thrust, strike”), from the Proto-Germanic base *skuf- (skuƀ), from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ-, see also Lithuanian skùbti (“to hurry”), Polish skubać (“to pluck”), Albanian humb (“to lose”). Germanic cognates include Low German kuffen (“to box the ears”), German kuffen (“to thrash”). More at scuff, shove, scuffle. ==== Verb ==== cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed) (transitive) To hit, as a reproach, particularly with the open palm to the head; to slap. (intransitive) To fight; to scuffle; to box. To buffet. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== cuff (plural cuffs) A blow, especially with the open hand; a box; a slap. ===== Derived terms ===== === Etymology 4 === ==== Noun ==== cuff (plural cuffs) (Scotland) The scruff of the neck. === References === “cuff”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.