cuff1

[kuhf] /kʌf/
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.
Idioms
13.
off the cuff, Informal.
  1. extemporaneously; on the spur of the moment.
  2. unofficially or informally:
    I'm telling you this strictly off the cuff.
14.
on the cuff, Slang.
  1. with the promise of future payment; on credit.
  2. without charge; with no payment expected:
    He enjoyed his meal the more because it was on the cuff.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English cuffe mitten; perhaps akin to Old English cuffie cap < Medieval Latin cuphia coif

cuff2

[kuhf] /kʌf/
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; perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Low German kuffen, Norwegian, Swedish dialect kuffa to push, shove
Examples from the web for cuffs
  • There has lately been a strange development of feeling over the rumors of a revival of detachable shirt cuffs.
  • Everyone got his collars and cuffs filthy with frosting.
  • There was for a while no money bid for argument unless the poet and the player went to cuffs in the question.
  • She knits woollen shawls and embroiders cuffs, ruining her old eyes.
  • Decorate simple favor boxes with pretty bows and paper cuffs.
  • Pin the ears and tail in place and tie on the fur cuffs.
  • Made entirely by hand, it is embellished with hand-knit scalloping at the cuffs and hem, and hand-painted ceramic buttons.
  • Elastic bound flex cuffs help seal in thermal warmth without sliding down your wrist on prolonged reaches.
  • Leg cuffs are adjustable, as are the removable suspenders.
  • The soft neoprene punch-through arm cuffs and adjustable neck closure comfortably block water entry.
British Dictionary definitions for cuffs

cuffs

/kʌfs/
plural noun
1.
(informal) short for handcuffs See handcuff (sense 2)

cuff1

/kʌf/
noun
1.
the part of a sleeve nearest the hand, sometimes turned back and decorative
2.
the part of a gauntlet or glove that extends past the wrist
3.
(US & Canadian, Austral) the turned-up fold at the bottom of some trouser legs Also called (in eg Britain) turn-up
4.
(informal) off the cuff, improvised; extemporary
See also cuffs
Word Origin
C14 cuffe glove, of obscure origin

cuff2

/kʌf/
verb
1.
(transitive) to strike with an open hand
noun
2.
a blow of this kind
Word Origin
C16: of obscure origin
Word Origin and History for cuffs

cuff

n.

"bottom of a sleeve," mid-14c., cuffe "hand covering, mitten, glove," perhaps somehow from Medieval Latin cuffia "head covering," of uncertain origin. Sense of "band around the sleeve" is first attested 1520s; sense of "hem of trousers" is 1911. Off the cuff "extemporaneously" is 1938 American English colloquial, suggesting an actor or speaker reading from notes jotted on his shirt sleeves rather than learned lines. Cuff links is from 1897.

v.

"to put a cuff on," 1690s, from cuff (n.). Related: Cuffed; cuffing.

"hit," 1520s, of unknown origin, perhaps from Swedish kuffa "to thrust, push." Related: Cuffed; cuffing. As a noun from 1560s.

cuffs in Medicine

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.

Slang definitions & phrases for cuffs

cuffs

noun

Handcuffs (1663+)


cuff

verb
  1. To borrow money from someone, usually in an urgent way
  2. To charge something, esp on an expense account: No man feels he is getting ahead until he can cuff a few tabs on the firm
  3. To put handcuffs on someone: Cuff him and book him, Flanagan (1693+)
Related Terms

off the cuff, on the cuff, put the cuff on someone

[1920s+; first two senses fr the notion of keeping track of debts by notations on the cuff of one's shirt]


Idioms and Phrases with cuffs

cuff

see: