scoff
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English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /skɒf/
- (US) IPA(key): /skɔːf/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /skɑːf/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -ɒf
Etymology 1
[edit]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
[edit]scoff (plural scoffs)
- 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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vi], page 100, column 1:
- VVith ſcoffes 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 Wher-wolf”, in The House by the Church-yard. […], volume III, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 200:
- "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 house-breakers?" 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 […]
- An object of scorn, mockery, or derision.
- 1782, William Cowper, “Hope”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC:
- [T]he scoff of wither'd age and beardless youth […]
Translations
[edit]expression of derision
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object of scorn, mockery, or derision
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Verb
[edit]scoff (third-person singular simple present scoffs, present participle scoffing, simple past and past participle scoffed)
- (intransitive) To jeer; to laugh with contempt and derision.
- Synonym: sneer
- 1770, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, a Poem, London: […] W[illiam] Griffin, […], →OCLC:
- Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, / And fools who came to scoff, remained to pray.
- (transitive) To mock; to treat with scorn.
Translations
[edit]to jeer; laugh at with contempt and derision
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Etymology 2
[edit]A variant, attested since the mid 19th century, of scaff, of uncertain origin.[1][2] Compare scarf (“eat quickly”).
Noun
[edit]scoff (countable and uncountable, plural scoffs)
- (Newfoundland, South Africa and British Army slang) Food.
- (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
[edit]slang: food
Verb
[edit]scoff (third-person singular simple present scoffs, present participle scoffing, simple past and past participle scoffed)
- (British, Newfoundland, slang) To eat food quickly.
- 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.
- (Newfoundland, South Africa and British Army slang) To eat.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]to eat food quickly
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to eat — see eat
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ “scoff”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- ^ “scoff”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
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- Rhymes:English/ɒf
- Rhymes:English/ɒf/1 syllable
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