duff

noun

1. (countable, dialectal, uncountable)Dough.
2. (countable, uncountable)A stiff flour pudding, often with dried fruit, boiled in a cloth bag, or steamed.

   “Later on, all the tinned meat came to an end, likewise the potatoes, and we lived on salt meat, biscuit, and duff; this fare was served out to all the messes on board, and we, I was going to say, saloon-folk, fared no better than the fo'castle hands.”

   “The storekeeper had sent them an unbroken case of canned plum pudding, and probably by this time he was wondering what had become of that blanky case of duff.”

   “Who bravely stuff Themselves with Duff, May laugh at Doctor's bills.”

   “Dessert is as substantial as the main course, and none more so than the absolute favorite, guava duff.”

3. (countable, uncountable)A pudding-style dessert, especially one made with plums or (in the Bahamas) guavas.

   “They must live on sea food—a deal more of salt beef, pork, beans, and hard tack is than of any thing else, but of the food at sea well as in port it may here be said that it is ample in quantity and good enough anybody, though by no means all strawberry shortcake and cream or plum duff.”

   “With Christmas well on its way let's take a look at a modern version of an old favourite dessert more often than not reserved for the day we celebrate the birth of Christ: plum duff. It is just as well Christmas falls during the summer school holidays as a nipper this allowed me to be at my grandmother's home when the true traditional plum duff was made.”

4. (British-Columbia, Northwestern, Scotland, US, countable, uncountable)Decaying vegetable matter on the forest floor.

   “These methods also make it possible for the forest officer to describe and to record his observations in precise terms such as “6% percent duff moisture” rather than in generalities such as “pretty dry duff.””

   “Depth of litter and duff under the crown of each tree was measured at a point that appeared to represent average depth. Bulk samples of litter (including duff) were taken under four pinyons and three junipers, and ovendried.”

   “1991, "Woody Fuel and Duff Consumption by Prescribed Fire in Northern Idaho Mixed Conifer Logging Slash" from the U.S. Department of Agriculture The moisture content of the deep pockets of rotten wood was much greater than of the litter-derived duff layer.”

   “Out under the trees, some rangers had found enough duff and dry wood to start a fire beneath a slanting ridge of slate.”

5. (countable, uncountable)Coal dust, especially that left after screening or combined with other small, unsaleable bits of coal.
6. (countable, uncountable)Fine and dry coal in small pieces, usually anthracite.

   “The great bulk of the coal burnt under our boilers is duff of a very small size, and a mixed coal of duff, peas, and small nuts.”

7. (British, countable, uncountable)A mixture of coal and rock.
8. (countable, slang, uncountable)The bits left in the bottom of the bag after the booty has been consumed, like crumbs.
9. (countable, uncountable)Something spurious or fake; a counterfeit; a worthless thing; a defective thing.
10. (countable, slang, uncountable)An error.
11. (US, slang)The buttocks.
12. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of daf (“type of drum”).
13. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, derogatory, slang)Acronym of dumb/designated ugly fat friend, an attractive woman's less attractive friend.

adj

1. (UK)Worthless; not working properly, defective.

   “Why do I always get a shopping trolley with duff wheels?”

   “From its surface, he insisted, plain food became ambrosia, water nectar, and the duffest dope would blow your mind.”

   “The band developed its sound, shamblingly at first, on the road, in an era before thousands of blog or YouTube users could form an opinion of a band based on some MySpace demos and a duff early gig in Tacoma.”

   “All the other parts were played by a gallery of Dickensian character actors, including Thorley Walters, Francis Matthews and, yes, Michael Ripper, who lent gravitas to the duffest dialogue lines.”

verb

1. (obsolete, slang)To disguise something to make it look new.
2. (obsolete, slang)To sell spurious goods, often under pretence of their being stolen or smuggled.

   “A person once taken-in by smuggled handkerchiefs, or anything, won’t deal with a hawker again, even though there’s no deception. But ‘duffing,’ and all that is going down fast, and I wish it was gone altogether.”

3. (Australia)To alter the branding of stolen cattle; to steal cattle.
4. (US)To hit the ground behind the ball.

name

1. (countable)A surname.
2. (countable, uncountable)A placename
3. (countable, uncountable)A placename
4. (countable, uncountable)A placename
5. (countable, uncountable)A placename
6. (countable)A male given name.
7. (UK, countable, uncountable)A BR class 47, a class of British diesel locomotive.