different between fluff vs fluffing

English

Etymology

From earlier floow (“woolly substance, down, nap, lint”), also spelt flough, flue, and flew, from West Flemish vluwe,of uncertain ultimate origin:

• Compare Old English fl?h (“that which is flown off, fragment, piece”) - see flaw
• Possibly representing a blend of flue +? puff; compare Middle Dutch vloe, or perhaps onomatopoeic; compare dialectal English floose, flooze, fleeze (“particles of wool or cotton; fluff; loose threads or fibres”), Danish fnug (“down, fluff”), Swedish fnugg (“speck, flake”).
• Alternatively, West Flemish vluwe may derive from French velu (“hairy, furry”), ultimately from Latin villus (“shaggy hair, tuft of hair”).

For words of similar sound and meaning in other languages, compare Japanese ???? (fuwafuwa, “lightly, softly”), Hungarian puha (“soft, fluffy”), Polish puchaty (“soft, fluffy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fl?f/
• Rhymes: -?f

Noun

fluff (plural fluffs)

1. Anything light, soft or fuzzy, especially fur, hair, feathers.
2. Anything inconsequential or superficial.

3. (informal) A lapse or mistake, especially a mistake in an actor's lines.

   Synonym: flub

4. (New England) Marshmallow creme.

   That New England-style salami and fluff sandwich sure hit the spot!

5. (LGBT) A passive partner in a lesbian relationship.
6. (Australia, euphemistic) A fart.

(Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms

• (anything light, soft or fuzzy): fuzz, oose (Scotland), puff
• (anything inconsequential or superficial): BS, cruft, hype, all talk
• (a lapse): blooper, blunder, boo-boo, defect, error, fault, faux pas, gaffe, lapse, mistake, slip, stumble, thinko
• (passive in a lesbian relationship): ruffle
• See also Thesaurus:error

Derived terms

• bit of fluff
• bumfluff
• fluffball
• fluffhead
• fluffiness
• fluffless
• flufflike
• fluffy
• marshmallow fluff

Translations

See also

• dust
• lint
• plumage

Verb

fluff (third-person singular simple present fluffs, present participle fluffing, simple past and past participle fluffed)

1. (transitive) To make something fluffy.

   The cat fluffed its tail.

2. (intransitive) To become fluffy, puff up.
3. (intransitive) To move lightly like fluff.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Holmes to this entry?)

4. (informal, transitive, intransitive, of an actor or announcer) To make a mistake in one's lines.

   Synonym: flub

5. (informal, transitive) To do incorrectly, for example mishit, miskick, miscue etc.

   Synonym: flub
6. (intransitive, Australia, euphemistic) To fart.
7. (transitive, slang) To arouse (a male pornographic actor) before filming.
   • 2008, Blue Blake, Out of the Blue: Confessions of an Unlikely Porn Star (page 187)

     To get Lance Bronson hard, Chi Chi, in desperation, called Sharon Kane to come and fluff him on the set. People were always asking me how they could get a job as a fluffer.

Derived terms

• fluff-dry
• fluffer
• fluff girl
• fluff up
• mattress fluffer

Translations

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “fluff”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Swedish

Noun

fluff c

1. fluffy (and absorbent) stuff in a baby's diaper

Declension

Synonyms

• fluffmassa

Related terms

• fluffa
• fluffig

References

• fluff in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fl?f??/

Verb

fluffing

1. present participle of fluff

Noun

fluffing (plural fluffings)

1. The act by which something is fluffed.
   • 1918, Laura Lee Hope, The Outdoor Girls in Army Service

     It is safe to say that Betty was fully dressed, to the last little pattings and fluffings of her blue morning dress, before ten minutes was up, and, with Mrs. Irving, was walking with rapidly beating heart down the hall toward Allen's room.