scruff
/skɹʌf/ noun, verb
Forms scruffs scruffing scruffed
- noun Someone with an untidy appearance. “That candidate will never get the job: he's a right scruff.”
- noun Stubble, facial hair (on males).
- noun (obsolete) Crust.
- noun (obsolete) Scurf.
- noun The loose skin at the back of the neck of some animals.
- noun (rare) The back of the neck, nape; also scruff of the neck. “He grabbed his unruly child by the scruff of the neck, and took him home.”
- verb (transitive) To lift or carry by the scruff.
Synonyms
Etymology
See scurf.
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).
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [See Scurf.]
Etymology [Cf. Scuff.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “scruff”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details