See Also: tuft(medicine)
tuft(1)(dictionary)
tuft(2)(dictionary)
tuft(dictionary)
enamel tuft(medicine)
malpighian tuft(medicine)
tuft-hunter(dictionary)

tuft(1) (iou)



tuft noun. LME.
[Prob. from Old French tof(f)e (mod. touffe), of unkn. origin: for alt. of -ff to -ft see GRAFT noun2. Cf. TOFF, TUFFET.]
a. A bunch of small (usu. soft and flexible) things, as hairs, feathers, etc., fixed or attached at the base; spec. a tufted patch of hair on the head or chin. LME.
branchial tuft, respiratory tuft Zoology a small cluster of elongated gills. scent tuft: see SCENT noun.
Tennyson A light-green tuft of plumes she bore. R. P. Jhabvala He had shaved his head completely, leaving only the Hindu tuft on top.
b. Botany. A cluster of short-stalked flowers etc. growing from a common point; a (freq. dense or compact) cluster of vegetative shoots or stems growing from a common root. E16.
W. Irving Picking his way..through this..forest; stepping from tuft to tuft of rushes and roots.
An ornamental tassel, esp. on a cap; spec. (now Hist.) the gold tassel formerly worn by titled Oxbridge undergraduates. LME.
b. A person who wears a tuft; spec. (now Hist.) a titled Oxbridge undergraduate (Univ. slang). M18.
A clump of trees or bushes. M16.
Anatomy. A small cluster or plexus of capillary blood-vessels; a glomerulus. M19.