Lexic.us

Definition of Scruff

1. Noun. The back side of the neck.

Definition of Scruff

1. n. Scurf.

2. n. The nape of the neck; the loose outside skin, as of the back of the neck.

Definition of Scruff

1. Noun. Someone with an untidy appearance ¹

2. Noun. (obsolete) crust ¹

3. Noun. (Also '''scruff of the neck''') The skin at the back of the neck, the back of the neck, nape. ¹

4. Verb. To lift or carry by the '''scruff'''. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Scruff

1. the back of the neck [n -S]

Medical Definition of Scruff

1. The nape of the neck; the loose outside skin, as of the back of the neck. Origin: Cf. Scuff. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Scruff

Literary usage of Scruff

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Health & Wealth by Elbert Hubbard (1908)
"... would have wisdom by the scruff and detain knowledge with a tail-hold. f There can be no secrets in life and morals, because Nature has provided that ..."

2. A Handbook to the Gallery of British Paintings in the Art Treasures Exhibition by Manchester art treasures exhib (1857)
"... accused of the foul sin of witchcraft, principally ou the evidence of her " black cat," which a gruff retainer is holding up by the scruff of the neck. ..."

3. The Greatest Works of the Greatest Authors, Ancient and Modern (1894)
"First of all, a face hideous and ghastly, changed from its former self; for a smooth skin, a hide with scruff overgrown, and flabby cheeks, ..."

4. The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman: In Three Parallel Texts by William Langland (1886)
"Blount gives ' scruff, a kind of fuel which poor people, when firing is dear, ... The author intimates that scruff and scrape were much the same thing, ..."

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