ruff
noun
[ rʌf ]
• a projecting starched frill worn round the neck, characteristic of Elizabethan and Jacobean costume.
• "an Elizabethan ruff"
• a projecting or conspicuously coloured ring of feathers or hair round the neck of a bird or mammal.
• "a ruff of long pointed feathers"
• a pigeon of a domestic breed with a ruff of feathers on its neck.
• a North Eurasian wading bird, the male of which has a large variously coloured ruff and ear tufts in the breeding season, used in display.
Origin:
early 16th century (first used denoting a frill around a sleeve): probably from a variant of rough.
ruff
noun
• an edible marine fish of Australian inshore waters that is related to the Australian salmon.
• variant spelling of ruffe.
Origin:
late 19th century: from ruffe.
ruff
verb
• (in bridge, whist, and similar card games) play a trump in a trick which was led in a different suit.
• "declarer ruffed and then led a heart"
ruff
noun
• an act of ruffing or opportunity to ruff.
• "he gave his partner a spade ruff"
Origin:
late 16th century (originally the name of a card game resembling whist): from Old French rouffle, a parallel formation to Italian ronfa (perhaps an alteration of trionfo ‘a trump’).
ruff
noun
• one of the basic patterns (rudiments) of drumming, consisting of a single note preceded by either two grace notes played with the other stick ( double-stroke ruff or drag ) or three grace notes played with alternating sticks ( four-stroke ruff ).
Origin:
late 17th century: probably imitative.
ruffe
noun
• a European freshwater fish of the perch family, with a greenish-brown back and yellow sides and underparts.
Origin:
late Middle English: probably from a variant of rough.
