scarf

nounverbnounverbverbnounnouncommon in dialogue

United Kingdom//skɑːf//
Canada//skɑɹf//
Australia//skɐːf//

A long, often knitted, garment worn around the neck.

noun

1
A long, often knitted, garment worn around the neck.
Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety. She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.
2
A headscarf.
3
datedA neckcloth or cravat.

Etymology

Probably from Old Northern French escarpe (compare Old French escharpe (“pilgrim's purse suspended from the neck”), which see). The verb is derived from the noun. Doublet of scrip.

verb

1
To throw on loosely; to put on like a scarf.
Vp from my Cabin, / My ſea-gowne scarft about me in the darke / Gropt I to find out them, […]
2
To dress with a scarf, or as with a scarf; to cover with a loose wrapping.
She scarfed her head.
The back of her tan trenchcoat swished from left to right as she scarfed her head and disappeared into the dusk.
3
To cover as or like a scarf.
A cowl scarfed her shoulders.
She was trying to keep the silken veil scarfing her shoulders in order.
Transfixed on the smaller branches, intensely black against the moon, were organs harvested from the body cavity – heart, spleen, kidneys and liver. […] A length of slippery bowel scarfed my neck.
A large red ribbon scarfed her neck and seemed to have its own strange glow of the same hue.

noun

1
A type of joint in woodworking, formed by two shaped ends that fit into or onto each other.
2
A groove on one side of a sewing machine needle.
3
A dip or notch or cut made in the trunk of a tree to direct its fall when felling.

Etymology

Of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old Norse skarfr, derivative of skera (“to cut”).

verb

1
To shape by grinding or oxyfuel torch cutting.
2
To form a scarf on the end or edge of, as for a joint in timber, forming a "V" groove for welding adjacent metal plates, metal rods, etc.
3
To unite, as two pieces of timber or metal, by a scarf joint.

verb

1
slangTo eat very quickly.
You sure scarfed that pizza.
We dug in. We ate everything there was to eat on the table. We ate like there was no tomorrow. We didn't talk. We ate. We scarfed. We grazed that table. We were into serious eating. We finished everything, including half a strawberry pie.
Me: scarfing my daughter’s macaroni and cheese, now chilly, over the sink while halfheartedly rinsing dishes.

Etymology

Generally thought to be a variant, attested since the 1950s, of scoff (“eat (quickly)”) (of which scorf is another attested variant), itself a variant of scaff. Sometimes alternatively suggested to be a dialectal survival of Old English scearfian, sceorfan (“gnaw, bite”) (compare scurf).

noun

1
A cormorant.

Etymology

From Old Norse skarfr.

noun

1
Variant of scurfarchaicArchaic form of scurf (“skin disease; skin flakes”).

Forms

plural: scarves, scarfs
past tense: scarfed
past participle: scarfed
present participle: scarfing
third person singular: scarfs

scare · A minor fright.scarecrow · An effigy, typically made of straw and dressed in old…scared · Feeling fear; afraid, frightened.

scarf · A long, often knitted, garment worn around the neck.

scarlet · A brilliant red colour sometimes tinged with orange.Scarlet · A female given name from English, a modern variant of…Scarlett · A surname originating as an occupation for a dyer or seller…

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