What does "muff" mean?

Muff: (Mech.) A short hollow cylinder surrounding an object, as a pipe.

Additional senses

  1. 2.(Glass Manuf.) A blown cylinder of glass which is afterward flattened out to make a sheet.
  2. 3.Etym: [Perhaps a different word; cf. Prov. E. maffle to slammer.] A stupid fellow; a poor-spirited person. [Colloq.] "A muff of a curate." Thackeray.
  3. 4.Etym: [See 4.] (Baseball) A failure to hold a ball when once in the hands.
  4. 5.(Zoöl.) The whitethroat. [Prov. Eng.]
  5. 6.To handle awkwardly; to fumble; to fail to hold, as a ball, in catching it.

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