What does "tuft" mean?

Tuft: A cluster; a clump; as, a tuft of plants. Under a tuft of shade. Milton. Green lake, and cedar fuft, and spicy glade. Keble.

Additional senses

  1. 2.A nobleman, or person of quality, especially in the English universities; -- so called from the tuft, or gold tassel, on the cap worn by them. [Cant, Eng.] Several young tufts, and others of the faster men. T. Hughes.
  2. 3.To separate into tufts.
  3. 4.To adorn with tufts or with a tuft. Thomson.
  4. 5.To grow in, or form, a tuft or tufts.

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