bluff

noun

1. 1

   An act of bluffing; a false expression of the strength of one’s position in order to intimidate or deceive; braggadocio.

   That is only bluff, or That is only a bluff.

   "That's enough," announced Joolby with decision. "You've put up all the bluff you know, Carrados, and we've got you dog-beaten. […]"

2. 2

   An attempt to represent oneself as holding a stronger hand than one actually does.

   John’s bet was a bluff: he bet without even so much as a pair.

3. 3

   datedThe card game poker.

   BLUFF OR POKER [title of a chapter]

4. 4

   One who bluffs; a bluffer.

5. 5

   datedPretense, excuse.

verb

1. 1

   To make a bluff; to give the impression that one’s hand is stronger than it is.

   John bluffed by betting without even a pair.

2. 2

   To frighten, deter, or deceive with a false show of strength or confidence; to give a false impression of strength or temerity in order to intimidate or gain some advantage.

   The government claims it will call an election if this bill does not pass. Is it truly ready to do so, or is it bluffing?

3. 3

   To perform or achieve by bluffing.

   We bluffed our way past the guards.

4. 4

   To give false information intentionally, to lie (to someone), to deceive; to put on an act.

   Vinod, you want to bluff the doctor, your mother, father, uncle, auntie, CMPB all that I don't care. But you cannot bluff me.

noun

1. 1

   A high, steep bank, for example by a river or the sea, or beside a ravine or plain; a cliff with a broad face.

   In the sketch (which is taken about 75 Jovian days after that of the 2nd July) there is shown a dark copper-coloured streak along the southern margin of the south brown belt, butting on to a bluff-headed streak of cumulus cloud which may be the same remarkable bluff head noticed on July 2.

   It seems there was a worm that slept upon a pile of treasure, which it had zealously heaped up under a stone bluff.

   Situated on bluffs above the Huangpu, a tributary of the Yangtze, Shanghai—which means ‘above the sea’—is sinking.

2. 2

   A small wood or stand of trees, typically poplar or willow.

adjective

1. 1

   Having a broad, flattened front.

   the bluff bows of a ship

2. 2

   Rising steeply with a flat or rounded front.

   a bluff or bold shore

   Its banks, if not really steep, had a bluff and precipitous aspect.

3. 3

   Surly; churlish; gruff; rough.

   […] he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face, all roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels.

4. 4

   Roughly frank and hearty in one's manners.

   a bluff answer

   a bluff manner of talking

   a bluff sea captain

   There is indeed a bluff pertinacity which is a proper defence in a moment of surprise.

verb

1. 1

   To fluff, puff or swell up.

   Not a sparrow on the cottage thatch, where the chimney's warmth had thawed the snow, that did not seem to have his great coat on, so bluffed out were the feathers, and not a frozen-out duck who did not glance up at the icicles hanging to the roof, and quack a prayer for rain.

   [W]hen the bare boughs of a tree intervened between her and the rising bright but deep red sun, frosted as the twigs were, on them sat a merry flock of sparrows, the feathers on their breasts bluffed out, as if they had donned warm winter spencers to shield them from the biting blast.

   I remember one idle bright afternoon here when Phillip bluffed out his little chest, sneaking expectant glances back at me and Cammy, until she "restrained" him from bickering with that beagle.

Forms

plural

bluffs

comparative

bluffer

superlative

bluffest

past tense

bluffed

past participle

bluffed

present participle

bluffing

third person singular

bluffs