cuff

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See also: Cuff

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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

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cuff (plural cuffs)

  1. (obsolete) Glove; mitten
  2. The end of a shirt sleeve that covers the wrist.
  3. The end of a pants leg when folded up.
  4. A surgical procedure in which parts of the body that were not previously connected are stitched together.
Derived terms
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Verb

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cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed)

  1. (transitive) To furnish with cuffs.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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Clipping of handcuff.

Noun

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cuff (plural cuffs)

  1. (informal, plural only) A handcuff.

Verb

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cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed)

  1. (transitive) To handcuff.
  2. (transitive, slang) To enter into a committed romantic relationship with (someone).
    • 2023 April 3, @SoraWasntHere, Twitter[1], archived from the original on 23 August 2024:
      This fr how it be, never cuffing another Latina woman from New York ever again💀
    • 2023 December 14, u/No-Spot2923, “What exactly makes a woman only good enough for sex and flings but not actual commitment?”, in Reddit[2], r/dating_advice, archived from the original on 23 August 2024:
      If your promiscuous, men who know females just date around could take advantage of that, plus a lot wouldn't want to cuff a female they know isn't doing pure things.
    • 2024 March 11, u/MobyDukakis, “Being happy single is not celebrated half as much as being a happy couple.”, in Reddit[3], r/Showerthoughts, archived from the original on 23 August 2024:
      After my last relationship I was so amped to be happy and single, but it's funny how when you are that it's as if potential SOs gravitate even more. It wasn't too long of that before I naturally got cuffed and I'm happy in a relationship but got damn I do wish I had more time happy and single
    • 2024 May 23, @CzarCule, Twitter[4], archived from the original on 23 August 2024:
      Whenever one of my boys cuffs a girl from the club, all I can do is chuckle and shake my head. We all know how it ends.
Translations
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Etymology 3

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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

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cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed)

  1. (transitive) To hit, as a reproach, particularly with the open palm to the head; to slap.
  2. (intransitive) To fight; to scuffle; to box.
  3. To buffet.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Noun

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cuff (plural cuffs)

  1. A blow, especially with the open hand; a box; a slap.
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Etymology 4

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Noun

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cuff (plural cuffs)

  1. (Scotland) The scruff of the neck.

References

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