[ruhf] 
| 1. | a neckpiece or collar of lace, lawn, or the like, gathered or drawn into deep, full, regular folds, worn in the 16th and 17th centuries. |
| 2. | something resembling such a piece in form or position. |
| 3. | a collar, or set of lengthened or specially marked hairs or feathers, on the neck of an animal. |
| 4. | Ornithology. a species of European and Asian sandpiper, Philomachus pugnax, the male of which has a large erectile ruff of feathers during the breeding season. Compare reeve 3 . |
| 5. | Alaska and Northern Canada. a fringe of fur around the edge of a parka hood or along the edges of a jacket. |
| 6. | tease (def. 3). |
[ruhf] Cards.| 1. | an act or instance of trumping when one cannot follow suit. |
| 2. | an old game of cards, resembling whist. |
| 3. | to trump when unable to follow suit. |
[ruhf] ,| a small European freshwater fish, Acerina cernua, of the perch family. |
| ruff 1 (rŭf) n.
[Perhaps short for ruffle1.] ruffed adj. |
| ruff 2 (rŭf) n.
To trump or play a trump. [Obsolete French ronfle, roffle, a kind of card game, from Old French ronfle, from renfler, to rise : re-, re- + enfler, to cause to swell (from Latin īnflāre; see inflate).] |
| ruff 3 (rŭf) n. A small European freshwater fish (Acerina cernua) related to the perches. [Middle English ruffe, probably from Medieval Latin rufus, a kind of fish.] |
| ruff 4 (rŭf) n. See ruffle2. [Of imitative origin.] |
| ruf·fle 2 (rŭf'əl) n. A low continuous beating of a drum that is not as loud as a roll. Also called ruff4. tr.v. ruf·fled, ruf·fling, ruf·fles To beat a ruffle on (a drum). [Probably from frequentative of ruff4.] |
ruff
in zoology, Old World bird (Philomachus pugnax), of the sandpiper subfamily Calidritinae (family Scolopacidae) remarkable for its courtship plumage and behaviour. The name ruff applies to the species or may be applied to the male only. In spring the 30-centimetre (12-inch) male acquires a double crest ("cape") and a collar ("ruff"); these may contain reddish, brown, black, and white feathers in proportions that vary with the individual (the most extreme case of polymorphism known among birds). The female, called the reeve, is only about 25 centimetres (10 inches) long and is plain grayish brown, as is the male in winter. In the breeding season males gather on a traditional display area (lek), usually a bare hill, and, while the reeves watch, display close together by making short rushes with cape and ruff erect and wings drooping. When a reeve strolls into their midst the males collapse, quivering, with bills stuck into the ground. Then the female chooses one of the males. She builds a nest, incubates the eggs, and raises the chicks alone. The sexes keep apart, even in flocks (further evidence of the extreme dimorphism of the species)
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