Duff Meaning
/dʌf/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounDough.
nounA stiff flour pudding, often with dried fruit, boiled in a cloth bag, or steamed.
Sentence Examples
She is up the duff.
She's up the duff.
The forest floor was covered in a thick layer of duff.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The gardener spread some ____ made from dead leaves around the roses.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She is up the ____.
Word Origin & History
Representing a northern England and Scots pronunciation of dough.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 196:
"Who bravely stuff
Themselves with Duff,
May laugh at Doctor's bills."
— 1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 87:
"Dessert is as substantial as the main course, and none more so than the absolute favorite, guava duff."
— 2000, Robert Barlas, Bahamas, page 118:
"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."
— 1891, John R. Spears, “The Life of a Naval Apprentice”, in The Chautauquan, volume 13:
"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."
— 2009, Graham Hawkes, Plum duff updated:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The gardener spread some ____ made from dead leaves around the roses.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She is up the ____.