Adjacent Words

Muff definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MUFF, n. A warm cover for the hands, usually made of fur or dressed skins.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a warm tubular covering for the hands
2: (sports) dropping the ball [syn: fumble, muff] v
1: fail to catch, as of a ball
2: make a mess of, destroy or ruin; "I botched the dinner and we had to eat out"; "the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement" [syn: botch, bodge, bumble, fumble, botch up, muff, blow, flub, screw up, ball up, spoil, muck up, bungle, fluff, bollix, bollix up, bollocks, bollocks up, bobble, mishandle, louse up, foul up, mess up, fuck up]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Dutch mof, from Middle French moufle mitten, from Medieval Latin muffula Date: 1599 a warm tubular covering for the hands II. verb Etymology: probably from ¹muff Date: 1846 transitive verb 1. to handle awkwardly ; bungle 2. to fail to hold (a ball) when attempting a catch intransitive verb 1. to act or do something stupidly or clumsily 2. to muff a ball — compare fumble III. noun Date: 1868 1. a bungling performance 2. a failure to hold a ball in attempting a catch

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. a fur or other covering, usu. in the form of a tube with an opening at each end for the hands to be inserted for warmth. Etymology: Du. mof, MDu. moffel, muffel f. med.L muff(u)la, of unkn. orig. 2. v. & n. --v.tr. 1 bungle; deal clumsily with. 2 fail to catch or receive (a ball etc.). 3 blunder in (a theatrical part etc.). --n. 1 a person who is awkward or stupid, orig. in some athletic sport. 2 a failure, esp. to catch a ball at cricket etc. Derivatives: muffish adj. Etymology: 19th c.: orig. unkn.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Whitethroat White"throat`, n. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of Old World warblers, esp. the common European species (Sylvia cinerea), called also strawsmear, nettlebird, muff, and whitecap, the garden whitethroat, or golden warbler (S. hortensis), and the lesser whitethroat (S. curruca).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Muff Muff (m[u^]f), n. [Cf. LG. muff, D. mof, G., Dan., & Sw. muff, F. moufle mitten, LL. muffula, MHG. mouwe sleeve, D. mouw, and E. muffle, v.] 1. A soft cover of cylindrical form, usually of fur, worn by women to shield the hands from cold. 2. (Mech.) A short hollow cylinder surrounding an object, as a pipe. 3. (Glass Manuf.) A blown cylinder of glass which is afterward flattened out to make a sheet. 4. [Perhaps a different word; cf. Prov. E. maffle to slammer.] A stupid fellow; a poor-spirited person. [Colloq.] ``A muff of a curate.'' --Thackeray. 5. [See 4.] (Baseball) A failure to hold a ball when once in the hands. 6. (Zo["o]l.) The whitethroat. [Prov. Eng.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Muff Muff, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Muffed; p. pr. & vb. n. Muffing.] To handle awkwardly; to fumble; to fail to hold, as a ball, in catching it.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(muffs, muffing, muffed) 1. If you muff something, you do it badly or you make a mistake while you are doing it, so that it is not successful. (INFORMAL) He muffed his opening speech. VERB: V n 2. A muff is a piece of fur or thick cloth shaped like a short hollow cylinder. You wear a muff on your hands to keep them warm in cold weather. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Muddle, mull, spoil.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

The private parts of a woman. To the well wearing of your muff, mort; to the happy consummation of your marriage, girl; a health.

Moby Thesaurus

bad job, be all thumbs, bevue, blow, blunder, blunder away, blunder into, blunder on, blunder upon, bobble, boggle, bollix, bonehead play, boner, boo-boo, botch, bumble, bungle, butcher, butterfingers, clumsy, clumsy performance, commit a gaffe, dub, duffer, error, etourderie, faux pas, flounder, flub, fluff, foozle, foozler, foul-up, fumble, fumble-fist, gaucherie, goof, goof up, goofball, goofer, hash, hick, louse up, lumber, lummox, lump, mar, mess, miscue, mistake, muddle, muffer, murder, off day, play havoc with, rube, sad work, screw up, slip, slob, spoil, stumble, stumblebum, stumblebunny, trip