scruff

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /skɹʌf/ (Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /skɹɐf/ (Northern England) IPA(key): /skɹʊf/ Rhymes: -ʌf === Etymology 1 === See scurf. ==== Noun ==== scruff (countable and uncountable, plural scruffs) Someone with an untidy appearance. Stubble, facial hair (on males). (obsolete) Crust. (obsolete) Scurf. ===== Derived terms ===== Apple scruff scruffy ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === 1790, from earlier (1787) scuft and dialect scuff, influenced by scruff (“crust”). Related to North Frisian skuft (“back of the neck of a horse”) and Dutch schoft (“withers (of a horse)”), from Proto-Germanic. Compare also Old Norse skopt (“hair of the head”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐍆𐍄 (skuft, “hair of the head”), Middle High German schopf (German Schopf). ==== Noun ==== scruff (plural scruffs) The loose skin at the back of the neck of some animals. (rare) The back of the neck, nape; also scruff of the neck. ===== Usage notes ===== Strictly refers to the loose skin at the back of the neck – found on many mammals, though not humans – rather than the back of the neck itself. While this distinction is not always observed, scruff is used almost exclusively in the phrase “to grab [someone/something] by the scruff [of the neck]”. ===== Synonyms ===== nape nucha, nuchal (medical) withers (of a horse) ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== scruff (third-person singular simple present scruffs, present participle scruffing, simple past and past participle scruffed) (transitive) To lift or carry by the scruff. === See also === scuff === References ===