muff

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

muff, n. [Cf. LG. muff, D. mof, G., Dan., & Sw. muff, F. moufle mitten, LL. muffula, MHG. mouwe sleeve, D. mouw, and E. muffle, v.].

•  A soft cover of cylindrical form, usually of fur, worn by women to shield the hands from cold.  [1913 Webster]
•  A short hollow cylinder surrounding an object, as a pipe.  [1913 Webster]
•  A blown cylinder of glass which is afterward flattened out to make a sheet.  [1913 Webster]
•  A stupid fellow; a poor-spirited person.  Thackeray.  [1913 Webster]
•  A failure to hold a ball when once in the hands.  [1913 Webster]
•  The whitethroat.  [1913 Webster]

muff, v. t. 

 To handle awkwardly; to fumble; to fail to hold, as a ball, in catching it.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

muff, n. a fur or other covering, usu. in the form of a tube with an opening at each end for the hands to be inserted for warmth.

muff, v. & n.
--v.tr.
1 bungle; deal clumsily with.
2 fail to catch or receive (a ball etc.).
3 blunder in (a theatrical part etc.).
--n.
1 a person who is awkward or stupid, orig. in some athletic sport.
2 a failure, esp. to catch a ball at cricket etc.

Derivative

muffish adj.

Etymology

19th c.: orig. unkn.

THESAURUS

muff

bad job, be all thumbs, bevue, blow, blunder, blunder away, blunder into, blunder on, blunder upon, bobble, boggle, bollix, bonehead play, boner, boo-boo, botch, bumble, bungle, butcher, butterfingers, clumsy, clumsy performance, commit a gaffe, dub, duffer, error, etourderie, faux pas, flounder, flub, fluff, foozle, foozler, foul-up, fumble, fumble-fist, gaucherie, goof, goof up, goofball, goofer, hash, hick, louse up, lumber, lummox, lump, mar, mess, miscue, mistake, muddle, muffer, murder, off day, play havoc with, rube, sad work, screw up, slip, slob, spoil, stumble, stumblebum, stumblebunny, trip

ROGET THESAURUS

muff

Bungler

N bungler, blunderer, blunderhead, marplot, fumbler, lubber, duffer, dauber, stick, bad hand, poor hand, poor shot, butterfingers, no conjurer, flat, muff, slow coach, looby, lubber, swab, clod, yokel, awkward squad, blanc-bec, galoot, land lubber, fresh water sailor, fair weather sailor, horse marine, fish out of water, ass in lion's skin, jackdaw in peacock's feathers, quack, lord of misrule, sloven, slattern, trapes, amateur, novice, greenhorn (learner), il n'a pas invente' la poudre, he will never set the Thames on fire, acierta errando, aliquis in omnibus nullus in singulis.

Impotence

N impotence, inability, disability, disablement, impuissance, imbecility, incapacity, incapability, inaptitude, ineptitude, incompetence, unproductivity, indocility, invalidity, disqualification, inefficiency, wastefulness, telum imbelle, brutum fulmen, blank, blank cartridge, flash in the pan, vox et proeterea nihil, dead letter, bit of waste paper, dummy, paper tiger, Quaker gun, inefficacy, failure, helplessness, prostration, paralysis, palsy, apoplexy, syncope, sideration, deliquium, collapse, exhaustion, softening of the brain, inanition, emasculation, orchiotomy, orchotomy, cripple, old woman, muff, powder puff, creampuff, pussycat, wimp, mollycoddle, eunuch, powerless, impotent, unable, incapable, incompetent, inefficient, ineffective, inept, unfit, unfitted, unqualified, disqualified, unendowed, inapt, unapt, crippled, disabled, armless, harmless, unarmed, weaponless, defenseless, sine ictu, unfortified, indefensible, vincible, pregnable, untenable, paralytic, paralyzed, palsied, imbecile, nerveless, sinewless, marrowless, pithless, lustless, emasculate, disjointed, out of joint, out of gear, unnerved, unhinged, water-logged, on one's beam ends, rudderless, laid on one's back, done up, dead beat, exhausted, shattered, demoralized, graveled, helpless, unfriended, fatherless, without a leg to stand on, hors de combat, laid on the shelf, null and void, nugatory, inoperative, good for nothing, ineffectual, inadequate, inefficacious, der kranke Mann, desirous still but impotent to rise, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Woman

N woman, she, her, female, petticoat, feminality, muliebrity, womanhood, womankind, the sex, the fair, fair sex, softer sex, weaker vessel, dame, madam, madame, mistress, Mrs, lady, donna belle, matron, dowager, goody, gammer, Frau, frow, Vrouw, rani, good woman, good wife, squaw, wife, matronage, matronhood, bachelor girl, new woman, feminist, suffragette, suffragist, nymph, wench, grisette, girl, sissy, betty, cot betty, cotquean, henhussy, mollycoddle, muff, old woman, hen, bitch, sow, doe, roe, mare, she goat, Nanny goat, tabita, ewe, cow, lioness, tigress, vixen, gynecaeum, estrogen, oestrogen, consanguinity &c, paternity, lesbian, dyke, female, she-, feminine, womanly, ladylike, matronly, maidenly, wifely, womanish, effeminate, unmanly, gynecic, gynaecic, Pron, she, her, hers, ', a perfect woman nobly planned, a lovely lady garmented in white, das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan, earth's noblest thing, a woman perfected, es de vidrio la mujer, she moves a goddess and she looks a queen, the beauty of a lovely woman is like music, varium et mutabile semper femina, woman is the lesser man.