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cuff

 - 10 dictionary results

cuff

1[kuhf]
–noun
1. a fold or band serving as a trimming or finish for the bottom of a sleeve.
2. a turned-up fold, as at the bottom of a trouser leg.
3. the part of a gauntlet or long glove that extends over the wrist.
4. a separate or detachable band or piece of fabric worn about the wrist, inside or outside of the sleeve.
5. an elasticized, ribbed, or reinforced band at the top of a sock or stocking.
6. a band of leather or other material, wider than a collar, sewed around the outside of the top of a shoe or boot to serve as a trimming or finish.
7. a handcuff.
8. Anatomy. a bandlike muscle or group of muscles encircling a body part.
9. Furniture. a horizontal strip of veneer used as an ornament on a leg.
10. Medicine/Medical. an inflatable wrap placed around the upper arm and used in conjunction with a device for recording blood pressure.
–verb (used with object)
11. to make a cuff or cuffs on: to cuff a pair of trousers.
12. to put handcuffs on.
13. off the cuff, Informal.
a. extemporaneously; on the spur of the moment.
b. unofficially or informally: I'm telling you this strictly off the cuff.
14. on the cuff, Slang.
a. with the promise of future payment; on credit.
b. without charge; with no payment expected: He enjoyed his meal the more because it was on the cuff.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME cuffe mitten; perh. akin to OE cuffie cap < ML cuphia coif

cuff

2[kuhf]
–verb (used with object)
1. to strike with the open hand; beat; buffet.
–noun
2. a blow with the fist or the open hand; buffet.

Origin:
1520–30; perh. < Scand; cf. LG kuffen, Norw, Sw dial. kuffa to push, shove
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cuff 1   (kŭf)   
n.  
    1. A fold used as trimming at the bottom of a sleeve.

    2. A band, often having an opening with a button closure, at the bottom of a sleeve.

  1. The turned-up fold at the bottom of a trouser leg.

  2. The band at the top of a sock.

  3. The part of a glove that extends over the wrist.

  4. A handcuff.

  5. Medicine An inflatable band, usually wrapped around the upper arm, that is used along with a sphygmomanometer in measuring arterial blood pressure.

tr.v.   cuffed, cuff·ing, cuffs
  1. To form a cuff or cuffs on.

  2. To put handcuffs on.


[Middle English cuffe, mitten.]
cuff 2   (kŭf)   
tr.v.   cuffed, cuff·ing, cuffs
To strike with or as if with the open hand; slap.
n.  A blow or slap with the open hand.

[Origin unknown.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
cuff

  1. tv.
    to put a charge on one's bill. : Would you cuff this for me, please?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

cuff  (n.)
1362, cuffe "hand covering," perhaps somehow from M.L. cuffia "head covering," of uncertain origin. Sense of "band around the sleeve" is first attested 1522; sense of "hem of trousers" is 1911. Off the cuff "extemporaneously" is 1938 Amer.Eng. colloquial, suggesting an actor or speaker reading from notes jotted on his shirt sleeves rather than learned lines. Cuff links is from 1897.

cuff  (v.)
"hit," 1530, perhaps from Sw. kuffa "to thrust, push."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: cuff
Pronunciation: 'k&f
Function: noun
1 : an inflatable band that is wrapped around an extremity to control the flow of bloodthrough the part when recording blood pressure with a sphygmomanometer
2 : an anatomical structure shaped like a cuff; especially : ROTATOR CUFF cuff avulsion —Physicians' Current Procedural Terminology>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

cuff (kŭf)
n.

  1. A bandlike structure encircling a part.

  2. An inflatable band, usually wrapped around the upper arm, that is used along with a sphygmomanometer in measuring arterial blood pressure.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

cuff

see off the cuff; on the cuff.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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