Tuft

n. [Prov. Eng. tuff, Fr. touffe, for touppe, Prov. Fr. touffette, W. twf, L. Lat. tufa, Icel. toppr, a curl, tuft of hair, L. Ger. topp, H. Ger. zopf, Fr. toupet.]

1. A collection of small, flexible, or soft things in a knot or bunch; a waving or bending and spreading cluster; as, a tuft of flowers; a tuft of feathers; a tuft of grass or hair.
2. A cluster; a clump; as, a tuft of trees. “Under a tuft of shade.” Milton.
3. (Bot.) A head of flowers, each elevated on a partial stalk, and all forming together a dense, roundish mass;—sometimes applied to other collections, as little bundles of leaves, hairs, and the like.
4. A nobleman, or person of quality, especially in the English universities;—so called from the tuft in the cap worn by them. [Cant or colloq., Eng.] “Several young tufts, and others of the faster men.” Hughes.

v. t. [imp. & p. p. TUFTED; p. pr. & vb. n. TUFTING.]

1. To separate into tufts.
2. To adorn with tufts or with a tuft. Thomson.