What does "cuff" mean?
Cuff: To buffet. "Cuffed by the gale." Tennyson.
Additional senses
- 2.To fight; to scuffle; to box. While the peers cuff to make the rabble sport. Dryden.
- 3.A blow; esp.,, a blow with the open hand; a box; a slap. Snatcheth his sword, and fiercely to him flies; Who well it wards, and quitten cuff with cuff. Spenser. Many a bitter kick and cuff. Hudibras.
- 4.The fold at the end of a sleeve; the part of a sleeve turned back from the hand. He would visit his mistress in a morning gown, band,short cuffs, and a peaked beard. Arbuthnot.
- 5.Any ornamental appendage at the wrist, whether attached to the sleeve of the garment or separate;especially, in modern times, such an appendage of starched linen, or a substitute for it of paper, or the like.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00