scarf
- 01 A2 Elementary
n.a long piece of cloth that you wear around your neck to keep warm or for fashion.
n.a garment consisting of a length of fabric worn around the neck or shoulders for warmth, fashion, or religious reasons.
Simple“He wrapped a thick wool scarf around his neck before going out into the snow.”
In context“The silk scarf served as a vibrant accent to her otherwise monochromatic professional attire during the autumn gala.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to eat something very fast because you are hungry or in a hurry.
v.to consume food rapidly and often greedily; frequently used with the particle 'down'.
Simple“The teenagers scarfed down three large pizzas in less than ten minutes.”
In context“Having missed lunch due to the meeting, he scarfed down a sandwich at his desk before the afternoon session commenced.”
UsageOften used as the phrasal verb 'scarf down'.
- 03 C2 Proficiency
n.a way of joining two pieces of wood or metal by cutting the ends so they fit together.
n.a joint made by notching or beveling the ends of two pieces of lumber or metal so that they overlap to form a continuous piece.
Simple“The carpenter used a scarf joint to make the long wooden railing.”
In context“The structural integrity of the timber frame relied on the precision of the scarf joints used to extend the primary horizontal beams.”
Probably from Old Northern French escarpe (compare Old French escharpe (“pilgrim's purse suspended from the neck”), which see). The verb is derived from the noun. Doublet of scrip.
Of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old Norse skarfr, derivative of skera (“to cut”).
Generally thought to be a variant, attested since the 1950s, of scoff (“eat (quickly)”) (of which scorf is another attested variant), itself a variant of scaff. Sometimes alternatively suggested to be a dialectal survival of Old English scearfian, sceorfan (“gnaw, bite”) (compare scurf).
From Old Norse skarfr.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.