ENGLISH
REFERENCE

cuff

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈkəf// UK //kˈʌf// cuff Archaic Informal Slang

n. the folded or turned-back part of a shirt sleeve at the wrist.

n. the lower edge of a sleeve, typically turned back to expose the inner lining.


SIMPLE

He rolled up his shirt cuffs.

CONTEXTUAL

She adjusted her cuffs before shaking hands with the manager.

COMPLEX

The tailor stitched the cuffs with precision, ensuring the buttons aligned perfectly with the holes.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English cuffe, coffe (“glove, mitten”), of obscure origin. Perhaps from Old English cuffie (“hood, cap”), from Medieval Latin cofia, cofea, cuffa, cuphia (“helmet, headdress, hood, cap”), from Frankish kuf(f)ja (“headdress”), from Proto-West Germanic kuffju, from Proto-Germanic *kupjō (“cap”). Cognate with Middle High German kupfe (“cap”).

Etymology 2

Clipping of handcuff.

Etymology 3

1520, “to hit”, apparently of North Germanic origin, from Norwegian kuffa (“to push, shove”) or Swedish kuffa (“to knock, thrust, strike”), from the Proto-Germanic base skuf- (skuƀ), from Proto-Indo-European skewbʰ-, see also Lithuanian skùbti (“to hurry”), Polish skubać (“to pluck”), Albanian humb (“to lose”). Germanic cognates include Low German kuffen (“to box the ears”), German kuffen (“to thrash”). More at scuff, shove, scuffle.

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