scarf1

[skahrf] /skɑrf/
noun, plural scarfs, scarves
[skahrvz] /skɑrvz/ (Show IPA)
1.
a long, broad strip of wool, silk, lace, or other material worn about the neck, shoulders, or head, for ornament or protection against cold, drafts, etc.; muffler.
2.
a necktie or cravat with hanging ends.
3.
a long cover or ornamental cloth for a bureau, table, etc.
verb (used with object)
4.
to cover or wrap with or as if with a scarf.
5.
to use in the manner of a scarf.
Origin
1545-55; perhaps special use of scarf2
Related forms
scarfless, adjective
scarflike, adjective

scarf2

[skahrf] /skɑrf/
noun, plural scarfs.
1.
a tapered or otherwise-formed end on each of the pieces to be assembled with a scarf joint.
2.
Whaling. a strip of skin along the body of the whale.
verb (used with object)
3.
to assemble with a scarf joint.
4.
to form a scarf on (the end of a timber).
5.
Steelmaking. to burn away the surface defects of (newly rolled steel).
6.
Whaling. to make a groove in and remove (the blubber and skin).
Also, scarph (for defs 1, 3, 4).
Origin
1490-1500; < Old Norse skarfr (derivative of skera to cut) end cut from a beam (hence perhaps a piece of cloth cut off, i.e., scarf1); compare Swedish skarv patch
Related forms
scarfer, noun

scarf3

[skahrf] /skɑrf/
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), Slang.
1.
to eat, especially voraciously (often followed by down or up):
to scarf down junk food.
Origin
1955-60, Americanism; variant of scoff2, with r inserted probably through r-dialect speakers' mistaking the underlying vowel as an r-less ar
Examples from the web for scarf
  • scarf prints have become a lot more than something to wrap around your neck.
  • Outerwear: a non-bulky scarf makes a good highlight.
  • Her shapely arms were bare, and in her hands she held a gossamer scarf.
  • But they're the equivalent of a neck scarf or a piece of jewelry.
  • Check out the video below showing how to create a spray-on scarf.
  • The only concession to cold weather is to throw a wool scarf around your neck.
  • Our bright red reversible bib features a fuzzy appliqué of a smiling polar bear decked out in his finest polka dot scarf.
  • Chuck's signature item is a patchwork polka-dot silk scarf.
  • However you wrap it, the scarf is spring's headlining headpiece.
  • In neckwear one finds the puffed scarf out of fashion.
British Dictionary definitions for scarf

scarf1

/skɑːf/
noun (pl) scarves (skɑːvz), scarfs
1.
a rectangular, triangular, or long narrow piece of cloth worn around the head, neck, or shoulders for warmth or decoration
verb (transitive) (rare)
2.
to wrap with or as if with a scarf
3.
to use as or in the manner of a scarf
Word Origin
C16: of uncertain origin; compare Old Norman French escarpe, Medieval Latin scrippum pilgrim's pack; see scrip²

scarf2

/skɑːf/
noun (pl) scarfs
1.
Also called scarf joint, scarfed joint. a lapped joint between two pieces of timber made by notching or grooving the ends and strapping, bolting, or gluing the two pieces together
2.
the end of a piece of timber shaped to form such a joint
3.
(NZ) a wedge-shaped cut made in a tree before felling, to determine the direction of the fall
4.
(whaling) an incision made along a whale's body before stripping off the blubber
verb (transitive)
5.
to join (two pieces of timber) by means of a scarf
6.
to make a scarf on (a piece of timber)
7.
to cut a scarf in (a whale)
Word Origin
C14: probably from Scandinavian; compare Norwegian skarv, Swedish skarf, Low German, Dutch scherfscarf1
Word Origin and History for scarf
n.

"band of silk, strip of cloth," 1550s, "a band worn across the body or over the shoulders," probably from Old North French escarpe "sash, sling," which probably is identical with Old French escherpe "pilgrim's purse suspended from the neck," perhaps from Frankish *skirpja or some other Germanic source (cf. Old Norse skreppa "small bag, wallet, satchel"), or from Medieval Latin scirpa "little bag woven of rushes," from Latin scirpus "rush, bulrush," of unknown origin [Klein]. As a cold-weather covering for the neck, first recorded 1844. Plural scarfs began to yield to scarves early 18c., on model of half/halves, etc.

"connecting joint," late 13c., probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse skarfr "nail for fastening a joint," Swedish skarf, Norwegian skarv). A general North Sea Germanic ship-building word (cf. Dutch scherf), the exact relationship of all these is unclear. Also borrowed into Romanic (cf. French écart, Spanish escarba); perhaps ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skarfaz (cf. Old English sceorfan "to gnaw, bite"), from PIE *(s)ker- "to cut" (see shear (v.)). Also used as a verb.

v.

"eat hastily," 1960, U.S. teen slang, originally a noun meaning "food, meal" (1932), perhaps imitative, or from scoff (attested in a similar sense from 1846). Or perhaps from a dialectal survival of Old English sceorfan "to gnaw, bite" (see scarf (n.2)); a similar word is found in a South African context in the 1600s. Related: Scarfed; scarfing.

Slang definitions & phrases for scarf

scarf

noun

Food; a meal; chow, scoff (1930s+ Teenagers fr black)

verb
  1. (also scarf down or scarf up) To eat or drink, esp voraciously; consume: puffing on his morning joint, eating cereal, and scarfing up a beer/ People scarf up food after truck overturns/ scarfed down Milky Ways flambe (1950+)
  2. To do cunnilingus: Scarf her a few times: eat her box, in other words (1960s+)