Cuff Definition

kŭf
cuffed, cuffing, cuffs
noun
cuffs
A band or fold at the end of a sleeve, either sewn in or detachable.
Webster's New World
A band, often having an opening with a button closure, at the bottom of a sleeve.
American Heritage
A turned-up fold at the bottom of a trouser leg.
Webster's New World
The part of a glove covering the wrist or forearm.
Webster's New World
The band at the top of a sock.
American Heritage
verb
cuffed, cuffing, cuffs
To put a cuff or cuffs on.
Webster's New World
To fight or scuffle.
Webster's New World
To put handcuffs on.
American Heritage
To strike, esp. with the open hand; slap.
Webster's New World
Wiktionary
idiom
off the cuff
  • In an extemporaneous or informal manner.
American Heritage
on the cuff
  • On credit.
American Heritage
off the cuff
  • in an offhand manner; extemporaneously
Webster's New World
on the cuff
  • on credit
Webster's New World
shoot one's cuffs
  • to flex the elbow or wrist so as to expose one's shirt cuffs beyond the coat sleeves
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Cuff

Noun

Singular:
cuff
Plural:
cuffs

Origin of Cuff

  • 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-Germanic *kupjō (“cap”). Cognate with Middle High German kupfe (“cap”).

    From Wiktionary

  • 1520, “to hit”, apparently of North Germanic origin, from Norwegian kuffa (“to push, shove”) or Swedish kuffa (“to knock, thrust, strike”). Related to Low German kuffen (“to box the ears”), German kuffen (“to thrash”). Perhaps related also to Swedish skuffa (“to push, shove”). More at scuff, shove, scuffle.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English cuffe mitten

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Origin unknown

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to cuff using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

cuff