different between kerf vs keef

English

Etymology

From Middle English kerf, kirf, kyrf, from Old English cyrf (“an act of cutting, a cutting off; a cutting instrument”), from Proto-Germanic *kurbiz (“a cut; notch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerb?- (“to scratch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??f/
• Rhymes: -??(?)f

Noun

kerf (plural kerfs)

1. (now rare) The act of cutting or carving something; a stroke or slice.
2. The groove or slit created by cutting or sawing something; an incision.
3. The distance between diverging saw teeth.
   • 1991, Popular Mechanics, January issue, page 63, "Thin-kerf blades", by Rosario Capotostro

     Sawing with a thin-kerf blade produces a kerf that's 1/2 to 1/3 the size of a standard blade kerf.

4. The flattened, cut-off end of a branch or tree; a stump or sawn-off cross-section.
5. The portion or quantity (e.g. of hay, turf, wool, etc.) cut off in a given stroke.

Related terms

• carve
• swarf

Translations

Verb

kerf (third-person singular simple present kerfs, present participle kerfing, simple past and past participle kerfed)

1. To cut a piece of wood or other material with several kerfs to allow it to be bent.

References

• kerf in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911. (Supplement)

Anagrams

• f**ker, ferk

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?rf/
• Hyphenation: kerf
• Rhymes: -?rf

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch kerve. The sense “insect” was borrowed from German Kerf.

Noun

kerf m (plural kerven, diminutive kerfje n)

1. a carve or groove
2. (rare, obsolete) insect

   Synonyms: insect, kerfdier, gekorven dier

Derived terms

• kerfbank
• kerfdier
• kerfstok

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

kerf

1. first-person singular present indicative of kerven
2. imperative of kerven

English

Noun

keef (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of kif