释义 |
tuft I. \ˈtəft\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English, modification of Middle French tufe, tofe, toffe, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Old Norse toppr tuft, Old High German zopf — more at top 1. : a small cluster of elongated flexible outgrowths or parts attached or close together at the base and free at the opposite ends: as a. (1) : a small bunch of hairs on the body (2) : a small beard on the chin : imperial b. : a growing bunch of grass, leaves, flowers, or small plants c. : a bunch of feathers; specifically : the crest of a bird d. : a bunch of soft fluffy threads cut off short and used to ornament cloth (as in a bedspread) 2. : a small group (as of trees) : clump, cluster < a tuft of pines — U.S. Geographic Board > 3. : mound < the house … was set high on a tuft of land — Yankee > 4. a. : a gold tassel formerly worn by titled undergraduates at Cambridge or Oxford Universities b. Britain : a titled undergraduate at Cambridge or Oxford 5. a. : a cluster of loops or cut threads used as a finish for the tying threads of quilts, mattresses, or upholstery b. : a covered button or leather disk for similar use 6. : a coil of capillaries 7. : one of the projections of extra warp or filling yarns drawn through a fabric or a carpet so as to produce a surface of raised loops or cut pile II. verb (-ed/-ing/-s) transitive verb 1. a. : to provide with a tuft b. : to weave (a fabric) with tufts 2. a. : to beat (as a covert) for deer b. : to rouse (game) by beating 3. : to make (as a mattress or cushioned seat) firm by drawing stitches tightly through the padding at regular intervals and covering each depression on the surface with a tuft intransitive verb : to form into tufts : grow into tufts |