daff

English

From Middle English daf, daffe (“fool, idiot”), from Old Norse daufr (“deaf, stupid”), from Proto-Germanic *daubaz (“deaf, stunned”), from Proto-Indo-European *dheubh- (“to whisk, whirl, smoke, be obscure”). Cognate with Swedish döf (“deaf”), Danish døv (“deaf, stupid”). More at deaf.

daff (plural daffs)

From Middle English daffen (“to render foolish”), from daf, daffe (“fool, idiot”). See above.

daff (third-person singular simple present daffs, present participle daffing, simple past and past participle daffed)

(intransitive) To be foolish; make sport; play; toy.
(Can we find and add a quotation of Jamieson to this entry?)
(Britain, dialect, obsolete) To daunt.
(Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Grose to this entry?)

Variant of doff.

daff (third-person singular simple present daffs, present participle daffing, simple past and past participle daffed)

(transitive) To toss (aside); to dismiss.
- 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 3
  DON PEDRO. I would she had bestowed this dotage on me; I would have daffed all other respects and made her half myself.
- 1948, CS Lewis, ‘Notes on the Way’:
  Such is the record of Scripture. Nor can you daff it aside by saying that local and temporary conditions condemned women to silence and private life.
(transitive) To turn (someone) aside; divert.

daff (plural daffs)

(Britain, informal) A daffodil.
Get your daffs here - £2 a bunch.
- 1934, Dorothy L. Sayers, The Nine Tailors
  You want a few more daffs on the decani side […]

daff (plural daffs)

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