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ruff
noun
- a high, frilled or pleated collar of starched muslin, lace, etc., worn by men and women in the 16th and 17th cent.
- a band of distinctively colored or protruding feathers or fur about the neck of an animal or bird
- a Eurasian sandpiper (Philomachus pugnax), the male of which grows a large ruff during the breeding season: the female is called a reeve
Related Forms:
- ruffed adjective
noun
- a small, spotted, European freshwater perch (Acerina cernua)also ruffe
- any of various Atlantic butterfishes (genus Centrolophus)
See ruff in American Heritage Dictionary 4
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