ruff

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun an external body part consisting of feathers or hair about the neck of a bird or other animal
noun a high tight collar
noun common Eurasian sandpiper; the male has an erectile neck ruff in breeding season

Clipping of ruffle, or possibly from rough.

Ruff of Geneva, print, 84. — Microcosmography: or, a Piece of the World Discovered; in Essays and Characters, John Earle
Their ruffs had begun to show. — Wild Animals I Have Known, Ernest Thompson Seton
Peter Ruff and the Double Four. — The Prairie Wife, Arthur Stringer

frill

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