turf

Use turf in a sentence

noun

Turf is defined as a surface or layer of the Earth with grass plants, sod or peat, or the space for a horse race, or slang for someone's home territory.
1. An example of turf is a patch of lawn.
2. An example of turf is a baseball team's home field.
3. An example of turf is the area that a gang sees as their own.

verb

Turf is defined as to cover with earth, plants, sod or peat.
An example of turf is to change a cemented area into grass.

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"turf." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 25 June 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/TURF>.

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turf. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/TURF

turf

1. a surface layer of earth containing grass plants with their matted roots; sod; sward
2. Chiefly Brit. a piece of this layer
peat, or a piece of it for use as fuel
a track for horse racing; also, the sport of horse racing: usually with the
Informal
1. a neighborhood area regarded by a street gang as its own territory to be defended against other gangs
2. one's own territory or domain

Origin of turf

Middle English from OE, akin to Old Norse torf from Indo-European an unverified form dorbhos, sod, tuft of grass from base an unverified form derbh-, to twist together

to cover with turf

turf Idioms

turf out

Brit., Informal to throw out; remove, discard, dismiss, etc.

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MLA Style

"turf." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 25 June 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/TURF>.

APA Style

turf. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/TURF

turf

noun

pl. turfs, also turves

a. A surface layer of earth containing a dense growth of grass and its matted roots; sod.
b. An artificial substitute for such a grassy layer, as on a playing field.
A piece cut from a layer of earth or sod.
A piece of peat that is burned for use as fuel.
Informal
a. The range of the authority or influence of a person, group, or thing; a bailiwick: “a bureaucracy … concerned with turf, promotions, the budget, and protecting the retirement system” ( Harper's ) See Synonyms at field.
b. A geographical area; a territory.
c. The area claimed by a gang, as of youths, as its personal territory.
Sports
a. A racetrack.
b. The sport or business of racing horses.

transitive verb

turfed, turf·ing, turfs

To spread with turf: turfed the front yard.
Chiefly British Slang To throw out, as from a place or position; eject: “when Adam and Eve got turfed out of Eden” ( Malachy McCourt )
Slang To kill: “These guys can't … make sure nobody gets turfed” ( Scott Turow )

Origin of turf

Middle English from Old English

Related Forms:

turf′y
adjective

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"turf." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 25 June 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/TURF>.

APA Style

turf. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/TURF

Noun

(plural turfs or turves or turf)

A layer of earth covered with grass; sod.
A piece of such a layer cut from the soil and used to make a lawn.
(Ireland) A sod of peat used as fuel.
(slang) The territory claimed by a person, gang, etc. as their own.
A racetrack; or the sport of racing horses.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present turfs, present participle turfing, simple past and past participle turfed)

to create a lawn by laying turfs
(Ultimate Frisbee) To throw a frisbee well short of its intended target, usually causing it to hit the ground within 10 yards of its release.
(business) To fire from a job or dismiss from a task.
Eight managers were turfed after the merger of the two companies.
(business) To cancel a project or product.
The company turfed the concept car because the prototype performed poorly.

Origin

From Middle English turf, torf, from Old English turf (“turf, sod, soil, piece of grass covered earth, greensward"), from Proto-Germanic *turbaz (“turf, lawn"), from Proto-Indo-European *dorbh- (“tuft, grass"). Cognate with Dutch turf (“turf"), Low German torf (“turf"), German dialectal Turbe (“turf"), German Torf (“peat, turf"), Swedish torf (“turf"), Icelandic torf (“turf"), Sanskrit [script?] (darbha, “a kind of grass").