Wiktionary

scarf

English edit

 
Man wearing a red scarf

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

Probably from Old Northern French escarpe (compare Old French escharpe (“pilgrim's purse suspended from the neck”), which see). The verb is derived from the noun. Doublet of scrip.

Noun edit

scarf (plural scarves or scarfs)

  1. A long, often knitted, garment worn around the neck.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 2, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety.  She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.
  2. A headscarf.
  3. (dated) A neckcloth or cravat.
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
  • → Welsh: sgarff
Translations edit
headscarf — see headscarf

Verb edit

scarf (third-person singular simple present scarfs, present participle scarfing, simple past and past participle scarfed)

  1. To throw on loosely; to put on like a scarf.
  2. To dress with a scarf, or as with a scarf; to cover with a loose wrapping.
Alternative forms edit

Etymology 2 edit

 
A scarf joint
 
Sewing machine needles with scarf shown on right

Of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old Norse skarfr, derivative of skera (“to cut”).

Noun edit

scarf (plural scarfs)

  1. A type of joint in woodworking.
  2. A groove on one side of a sewing machine needle.
  3. A dip or notch or cut made in the trunk of a tree to direct its fall when felling.
Synonyms edit
Translations edit

Verb edit

scarf (third-person singular simple present scarfs, present participle scarfing, simple past and past participle scarfed)

  1. To shape by grinding.
  2. To form a scarf on the end or edge of, as for a joint in timber, forming a "V" groove for welding adjacent metal plates, metal rods, etc.
  3. To unite, as two pieces of timber or metal, by a scarf joint.

Etymology 3 edit

Generally thought to be a variant, attested since the 1950s, of scoff (“eat (quickly)”) (of which scorf is another attested variant), itself a variant of scaff.[1][2] Sometimes alternatively suggested to be a dialectal survival of Old English scearfian, sceorfan (“gnaw, bite”) (compare scurf).[3]

Verb edit

scarf (third-person singular simple present scarfs, present participle scarfing, simple past and past participle scarfed)

  1. (transitive, US, slang) To eat very quickly.
    Synonyms: (UK) scoff, guzzle
    You sure scarfed that pizza.
    • 1983, Raymond Carver, Cathedral:
      We dug in. We ate everything there was to eat on the table. We ate like there was no tomorrow. We didn't talk. We ate. We scarfed. We grazed that table. We were into serious eating. We finished everything, including half a strawberry pie.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit

Etymology 4 edit

From Old Norse skarfr.

Noun edit

scarf (plural scarfs)

  1. (Scotland) A cormorant.
Alternative forms edit

Etymology 5 edit

Noun edit

scarf (countable and uncountable, plural scarfs)

  1. Archaic form of scurf (“skin disease; skin flakes”).

References edit

  1. ^ “scarf”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  2. ^ “scarf”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  3. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “scarf”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams edit

Old High German edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-West Germanic *skarp, see also Old Saxon skarp, Old English scearp, Old Norse skarpr.

Adjective edit

scarf

  1. sharp

Descendants edit

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