scruff
Use Scruff in a sentence
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun Metallurgy.
(in tin-plating) dross formed in the bath.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To scruff
00:10
Scruff
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
scruff1 (skrʌf) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| the nape of the neck (esp in the phrase by the scruff of the neck) | |
| [C18: variant of scuft, perhaps from Old Norse skoft hair; related to Old High German scuft] | |
| scruff2 (skrʌf) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | informal an untidy scruffy person |
| 2. | informal a disreputable person, ruffian |
| 3. | another name for scum |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
scruff
"nape of the neck," 1790, altered (by influence of scruff "crust") from scuft (1787), probably related to N.Fris. skuft "back of the neck of a horse" and Du. schoft "withers of a horse," from a common Gmc. source (cf. O.N. skopt "hair of the head," Goth. skuft, M.H.G. schopf, Ger. Schopf).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
scruff(y) definition[ˈskrəf(i)]
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Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
The microchip is inserted under the scruff area between the animal's shoulders.
Catch the mouse through the bag by grasping it by the scruff of the neck.
Without the clown makeup, his facial scruff and sunken eyes are more pronounced.
Any greenhorn attempting to occupy it was promptly ousted by catcalls or a heavy hand on the scruff of his shirt.
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