| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| ruff1 |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  r f |
| NOUN: | 1. A stiffly starched frilled or pleated circular collar of lace, muslin, or other fine fabric, worn by men and women in the 16th and 17th centuries. 2. A distinctive collarlike projection around the neck, as of feathers on a bird or of fur on a mammal. 3. A Eurasian sandpiper (Philomachus pugnax) the male of which has collarlike, erectile feathers around the neck during the breeding season. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Perhaps short for ruffle1. | | OTHER FORMS: | ruffed —ADJECTIVE
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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