Cŭff1, n.
n. [See infra.] A blow with the open hand; a stroke; a box. *The mad-brained bridegroom took him such a cuff That down fell priest and book.* Shak. To be at fisty-cuffs, to fight with blows of the fist.
4 entries under this word
Cuff
Cŭff2, v. t.
[imp. & p. p. CUFFED (kŭft); p. pr. & vb. n. CUFFING.] [Sw. kuffa, to knock, to push. Cf. Dan. kiæp, Sw. käpp, Icel. kepp, stick or cudgel, Sw. knuffa, Ger. knuffen, to cuff, beat soundly, Sw. & Ger. knuff, a buffet, Eng. knub, knubble, to beat.]
Sense 1. To strike with the palm or flat of the hand, as a man; or with talons or wings, as a fowl.
I swear I'll cuff you, if you strike again. Shak.
They with their quills did all the harm they could, And cuffed the tender chickens from their food. Dryden.
Sense 2. To buffet. “Cuffed by the gale.” Tennyson.
Cŭff3, v. i.
To fight; to scuffle. “While the peers cuff to make the rabble sport.” Dryden.
Cŭff4, n.
n. [Perhaps from Fr. coiffe, coiffe, head-dress, hood, or coif, It. cuffia, Sp. cofia, as if a cap for the hand.] The fold at the end of a sleeve; the part of a sleeve turned back from the hand.
He would visit his mistress in a morning gown, band, short cuffs, and a peaked beard. Arbuthnot.