tuff

See also: Tuff

English

Etymology 1
Etruscan tuff blocks

From French tuffe, tuf, from Italian tufo, from Latin tōfus.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /tʌf/
  • Audio (UK)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌf
  • Homophone: tough

Noun

tuff (countable and uncountable, plural tuffs)

  1. (petrology) A light porous rock, now especially a rock composed of compacted volcanic ash varying in size from fine sand to coarse gravel.
    Synonym: tufa
    • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 9n:
      This is what makes an ignimbrite; the general term for this kind of volcaniclastic rock is ‘tuff’.
Derived terms
  • tufflava
Translations

Adjective

tuff (comparative tuffer, superlative tuffest)

  1. Eye dialect spelling of tough.
    • 1980, Joy Wilt Berry, Ernie Hergenroeder, Tuff Stuff: A Children's Book about Trauma‎, Educational Products Division, Word, Inc., →ISBN:
      Tuff Stuff teaches that while life may go smoothly most of the time, ...
    • 2000, Margaret Cavendish, “Preface to the Reader (1655)”, in Sylvia Bowerbank, Sara Mendelson, editor, Paper Bodies‎, →ISBN, page 139:
      … yet never to make us so strong as the strongest of Men, whose Sinnews are tuffer, and Bones stronger, and Joints closer, and Flesh firmer, than ours are …
    • 2003, Ronald Carter, The Routledge Guide to Modern English Writing‎ (Language Arts), Routledge, →ISBN, page 96:
      It was rave reviewed in the Caribbean Times as 'the ruffest, tuffest and the boo-yacka of all modern gangster novels'.
    • 2006, Paige Hemmis, The Tuff Chix Guide to Easy Home Improvement‎, Penguin, →ISBN, page 36:
      TUFF METER
    • 2010 January 20, Robert J. Elisberg, “CES 2020 -- Ohm on the Range”, in Huffington Post‎, retrieved 2012-09-14:
      Its Tuff-n-Tiny USB flash drive is about the size of a thumbnail. … The company insists that the "tuff" part of the name is well-earned for being waterproof, dustproof and you can drive a car over it.
    • 2011, Kristian Pope, Tuff Stuff Professional Wrestling Field Guide: Legend and Lore‎, Krause Publications, →ISBN:
      Tuff Stuff Professional Wrestling

Further reading

References
  • Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, tuff

Swedish

Etymology

From English tough.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /tɵf/

Adjective

tuff (comparative tuffare, superlative tuffast)

  1. (slang) cool
  2. (slang) tough

Declension
Inflection of tuff
Indefinite Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular tuff tuffare tuffast
Neuter singular tufft tuffare tuffast
Plural tuffa tuffare tuffast
Masculine plural3 tuffe tuffare tuffast
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 tuffe tuffare tuffaste
All tuffa tuffare tuffaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
3) Dated or archaic

Derived terms
  • tuffing
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