tufftaffaty, tuftaffeta

and taffeta.) [Eng. tuft, Fabric: Tufted taffeta; a shaggy or villous silk fabric. IMG:content-1531.png:[blocks in formation] A. Transitive : 1. To pull or draw with great effort or with a vio tuft (1), *toft, *tufft, s . [Prop. tuff , from Fr. touffe a tuft; cf. Ger. zopf = a weft of hair, a tuft, lent strain; to haul or drag with great labor and a pigtail; Wel. toff =a tuft. Tuft is thus a deriva- tive of top (q. v.).] I. Ordinary Language : 1. Literally : (1) A cluster, a clump. "If you will know my house, 'Tis at the tuft of olives, here hard by." Shakesp.: As You Like It, iii. 5. (2) A collection of small flexible or soft things in a knot or bunch. "The flowers are white, and stand in the same manner, in small tufts at the top of the branches."-Cook: First Voyage , bk. i., ch. v. 2. Fig .: A young nobleman, entered as a student at a university, so called from the tuft or gold ta el worn on the cap. (University slang.) "He had rather a marked natural indifference to tufts ." -Carlyle: Life of Sterling , pt. ii., ch. iii. II. Botany: *1. A head or cushion-like ma of flowers, each elevated on a partial stalk, and all collectively forming a dense, roundish ma . 2. A little bundle or collection of leaves, hairs, ., or anything similar. tuft-hunter, s . One who courts the society of titled persons; one who toadies to men of title. tuft-hunting, s. The practice of a tuft-hunter. tuft-mockado, s . Fabric : A mixed stuff of silk and wool, in imitation of tufted taffeta or velvet.