scoff

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English

WOTD – 14 March 2008

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English scof, skof, probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Old Norse skaup, Old Danish skof, Old Frisian skof (“insult, shame”), and Old High German scoph.

Noun

scoff (plural scoffs)

  1. A derisive or mocking expression of scorn, contempt, or reproach.
    Synonyms: derision, ridicule; see also Thesaurus:ridicule
    • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 100, column 1:
      VVith ſcoffs and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.
    • 1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Church-yard. , volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Tinsley, Brothers, , →OCLC:
      'I believe you've killed that constable in the exercise of his duty, Sir; the man's dead,' said Lowe, sternly. / 'Another gloss on my text; why invade me like housebreakers?' said Dangerfield with a grim scoff.
    • 1852, The Dublin University Magazine, page 66:
      There were sneers, and scoffs, and inuendoes of some; prophecies of failure in a hundred ways […]
  2. An object of scorn, mockery, or derision.
Translations

Verb

scoff (third-person singular simple present scoffs, present participle scoffing, simple past and past participle scoffed)

  1. (intransitive) To jeer; to laugh with contempt and derision.
    Synonym: sneer
  2. (transitive) To mock; to treat with scorn.
    Synonyms: contemn, deride
Translations

Etymology 2

A variant, attested since the mid 19th century, of scaff, of uncertain origin. Compare scarf (“eat quickly”).

Noun

scoff (countable and uncountable, plural scoffs)

  1. (Newfoundland, South Africa and British Army slang) Food.
  2. (slang) The act of eating.
    • 2016, Fearne Cotton, Cook Happy, Cook Healthy:
      Lunch for the busy has become a quick scoff of processed, terrifyingly orange couscous, […]
Translations

Verb

scoff (third-person singular simple present scoffs, present participle scoffing, simple past and past participle scoffed)

  1. (British, Newfoundland, slang) To eat food quickly.
    Synonyms: gobble, (US) scarf
    • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
      The numbers thin out the further we get from London, so I don't feel guilty when I remove my mask momentarily to scoff some of the snacks I'd bought at Marylebone.
  2. (Newfoundland, South Africa and British Army slang) To eat.
Derived terms
Translations
to eat — see eat

See also

References

  1. ^ “scoff”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  2. ^ “scoff”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
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