| 释义 |
▪ I. fluff, n.1|flʌf|
[app. connected with flue n.2; perh. an onomatopœic modification of that word, imitating the action of puffing away some light substance; cf. fluff n.2 and v.2 An OE. *fluᵹ, fluh, f. root of fly v.1, would, however, if it existed, account for both words; cf. LG. flug, flog flue. Not in Johnson or Todd.]
1. a. Light, feathery, flocculent stuff, such as the downy particles that separate from dressed wool.
1790Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2), Fluff, down. The fluff of a peach. Kent. 1818J. Brown Psyche 171 Some fluff upon his cousin's cape. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Fluff, any light, flying, downy, gossamer-like stuff. 1880Howells Undisc. Country xii. 173 A little fluff under the bed or a spot on the floor would have been a comfort to her.
b. The soft fur of a rabbit or other animal.
1883F. C. Gould in Leisure Hour 613/2 They sneaked back..with rabbits' fluff in their jaws.
c. ? Soft feathery material for dress.
1875Tennyson Q. Mary i. iv, If this Prince of fluff and feather come To woo you.
d. Usually bit of fluff (cf. bit n.2 4 h): a young woman. colloq.
1903‘Marjoribanks’ Fluff-hunters 11 The guard was about to whistle, when a bit of fluff was blown up the platform, and, before Webster had had time to send up a petition for a safe journey, it (the fluff) had come to rest on the corner seat opposite him. 1919W. Deeping Second Youth xxiv. 207 Got a little party on, you know, two bits of fashionable fluff. 1937W. S. Maugham Theatre xiv. 120 It was strangely flattering for a woman to be treated as a little bit of fluff that you just tumbled on to a bed. 1962Wodehouse Service with Smile ii. 39 His ball of fluff will be there.
2. a. A soft, downy mass or bunch.
1862Mrs. Carlyle Lett. (1883) III. 127 Larks come with feathers all in a fluff. 1885E. Garrett At any Cost xv. 277 A young woman..with a fluff of golden hair about her face. 1891T. Hardy Tess II. 27 All this fluff of muslin about you.
b. Something downy and feathery.
1870Lowell Study Wind. (1886) 46 Tiny fluffs of feathered life. 1883T. Gray in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 129 Sometimes he [Edison] used what he describes as a fluff, that is, a little brush of silk fibre.
3. slang.
a. On railways (see quots.).
1874Slang Dict., Fluff, railway ticket clerks' slang for short change given by them. The profits thus accruing are called ‘fluffings’, and the practice is known as ‘fluffing’. 1890Star 27 Jan. 2/4 Many porters on this line are but getting 15s. per week, and with regard to ‘tips’, or, as we say ‘fluff’—well [etc.].
b. Theatr. ‘‘Lines’ half learned and imperfectly delivered’ (Farmer). Also, a mistake made when broadcasting, playing music, etc.
1891World 3 June 28/1 Even as seen through a veil of ‘fluff’, the burlesque is irresistibly amusing. 1937Variety Radio Directory 1937/38 342 Fluff, missing a cue, or muffing a gag. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 253 Fluff, a small accidental error in operational work or in speech. 1967Word Study Oct. 2/2 The announcer's fluff: ‘Kids, be sure Mother is stopped [stocked] up with Kellogg's Pep.’ 1970Daily Tel. 28 Oct. 12/7 In spite of a surprising number of fluffs, there was some excellent playing.
c. A bungling of a stroke or movement in games; a mistake, a blunder.
1928Daily Express 10 May 10/2 Walter Hagen..hit a [golf] ball no more than a couple of yards... There is nothing malicious in the way the mind fixes on that two-yard ‘fluff’. 1960Times 21 Mar. 3/3 In addition he achieved four astonishing place kicks, which made his costly fluff against France unbelievable. 1970Guardian 5 Aug. 18/8 Naturally, the Manson defence lawyers leaped on the fluff as an outrage.
Add:[1.] e. fig. Something insubstantial or trifling, esp. journalism or other writing, usu. of a sentimental nature.
1906R. Fry Let. 11 Feb. (1972) I. 249 Having to see reporters..and being careful to give them a lot of fluff with nothing inside it. 1979Amer. N. & Q. Nov. 41/1 The more immediate monetary rewards to be gained by starring in a piece of unchallenging romantic fluff. 1986New Yorker 22 Dec. 75/3 Bloom says he was the paper's ‘fluff specialist’ for a while—the reporter papers depend on to write their way out of a story on the first day of spring or..the new baby giraffe. 1990N. De Mille Gold Coast xxix. 405 The U.S. Attorney's office had complained vigorously about media sensationalism and too much human-interest fluff.
▪ II. fluff, n.2 Sc. and north. dial.|flʌf|
[see fluff v.2]
A puff; a quick, short blast, a whiff; a slight explosion. lit. and fig.
1819Rennie St. Patrick III. i. 31 I'm sure an ye warna a fish or something war, ye could never a' keepit ae fluff o' breath in the body o' ye in aneath the loch. 1871C. Gibbon Lack of Gold x, You'll see how cozily we'll blaze together to a white ash, and go off at the same minute with a fluff of affection. Ibid. xviii, The nuts leapt off with a ‘fluff’.
b. Comb., as fluff-gib, a squib, ‘explosion of gunpowder’ (Jam.).
1818Scott Rob Roy xxxi, Wi' fighting, and flashes, and fluff-gibs.
▪ III. fluff, v.1|flʌf|
[f. fluff n.1]
1. trans. Leather-manuf. (See quot.) Cf. buff v.
1882Paton in Encycl. Brit. XIV. 387/1 The flesh side is whitened or fluffed.
2. To make into fluff, pick into oakum.
1892Pall Mall G. 14 Mar. 2/2 Looking up from the rope I was fluffing.
3. To shake out or up into a soft mass like fluff. Also refl. (of a bird): To shake or puff out its feathers.
1875L. Troubridge Life amongst Troubridges (1966) x. 103 Her black hair combed right down over her fore⁓head and fluffed out behind. 1885A. Brassey The Trades 137 The ‘Johnny Crows’..fluff and plume and dust themselves without cessation. 1885O. T. Miller in Harper's Mag. Mar. 599 He [a bird] fluffs himself out into a ball. 1887Poor Nellie (1888) 265 The young ladies showed off the silky satins..then fluffed them up into a kind of pyramid. 1893S. Grand Heavenly Twins (1894) 279 She..fluffed her hair out till her head seemed preposterously large.
4. intr.
a. To move or float softly like fluff.
b. To settle down like a ball or mass of fluff.
1872O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf-t. iii. (1885) 60 She gave the music-stool a twirl or two and fluffed down on to it like a whirl of soapsuds in a hand-basin. 1888W. C. Russell Death Ship III. 221 'Twas a..fog..fluffing thick and soft as feathers about the ship.
5. Slang.
a. fluff it! (see quot. 1859).
b. (of railway booking-clerks) To give short change.
c. To disconcert, ‘floor’ (a public speaker); (cf. fluff v.2 1 a).
d. (Theatr.) To blunder one's part. Also, to make mistakes in broadcasting, playing music, etc.; to mispronounce, play wrongly (a phrase, note, etc.).
1859Slang. Dict., Fluff it, a term of disapprobation implying ‘take it away, I don't want it’. 1884G. Moore Mummer's Wife xx. 286 Mortimer was drunk, did not know his words, and went ‘fluffing’ all over the shop. 1936H. Herd Press Days i. 20, I had a good natural memory and could be relied upon [in reciting] not to fluff my lines. 1946Penguin Mus. Mag. Dec. 71 But, if you are in his orchestra, don't fluff that phrase next morning. 1955Times 11 May 15/1 He loomed nearer in a closeup to tell viewers (fluffing his lines a little) about the decision of the three Great Powers to invite Russia to join in four-Power talks. 1960C. Day Lewis Buried Day ix. 186, I had kept fluffing when I practised them [sc. songs]. 1967Word Study Oct. 3/1 Steve Allen fluffed one time in advertising Dunhills: ‘They're much, much wilder [milder].’
e. To bungle (esp. a stroke or movement in games); to make a mistake; to fail (an examination). (Cf. duff v.2)
1902Westm. Gaz. 30 Apr. 7/3 Blain played first, and topped his shot into the bunker. Hilton then played, half-fluffed his. 1909Ibid. 10 June 12/3 He skied his second into the rough at the third, and then fluffed his approach. 1915H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1917) xv. 264 If it proves that I have fluffed my catch, rely upon me to use extreme measures. 1944‘N. Shute’ Pastoral i. 18, I fluffed the twelfth and lost a ball. 1955Amer. Speech XXX. 303 Fluff, flunk (an exam), or make a mistake of any kind. 1959G. Jenkins Twist of Sand viii. 148 There's a new attack plan. I don't want it fluffed, like the other. 1971Daily Tel. 6 Aug. 11/5 Many school⁓children..awaiting their summer exam results have now got this particular worry. Has mother fluffed hers—or has she got through? 1971Times 17 Sept. 6/4 Palmer fluffed it because there was a hedge where his backswing should have gone.
f. intr. To bluff, to lie; also trans., to falsify (accounts, etc.).
1902E. Nesbit Five Children & It x. 268 We must pretend like mad. Like that game of cards where you pretend you've got aces when you haven't. Fluffing, they call it. 1941M. Allingham Traitor's Purse xiv. 159 You're up to something you don't want me to know about... Don't fluff. 1955M. Gilbert Sky High xv. 209 Watch him..he's fluffing... He's acting. Dangerous man. Don't relax. 1957Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Oct. 603/2 If he had chosen to fluff the accounts, or to render none, he would not have exposed himself.
g. Of railway porters: (see quots.).
1923in J. Manchon Le Slang 127. 1926 Westm. Gaz. 7 Jan., ‘Fluffing’—that is, unauthorized tip-hunting by railway men—must stop, by order of the National Union of Railwaymen. 1966H. Sheppard Dict. Railway Slang (ed. 2) 5 Fluffing, selection of rich passengers by off duty employees.
▪ IV. fluff, v.2 Sc.|flʌf|
[belongs to fluff n.2; of onomatopœic origin.]
1. a. trans. To knock out of breath; to cause to pant. Only in pass. b. intr. To puff, pant. c. To make a fuss.
1790Shirrefs Poems 21 But yet, nae ferly gin I'm fluff'd. 1813Hogg Queen's Wake 72 We borit the breiste of the bursting swale, Or fluffit i' the flotyng faem. 1889Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Thro' the Long Night I. ii. i. 310 She had often fluffed and fumed to Anne over that provision of her father's will.
2. trans. To make (gunpowder) ignite and go off. Also to fluff in the pan. Cf. flash v. 5 c.
1825Jamieson, To fluff powder, to burn gunpowder; to make it fly off, S. 1855Ogilvie Suppl., Fluffed i' the pan, burned priming without firing the barrel of the gun or pistol [Scotch]. |