Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A scientist, especially one engaged in research.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun British slang a scientist or technician, especially one engaged in military research.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun UK, informal A
scientist orengineer , especially one engaged intechnological ormilitary research . - noun this sense?) An elderly naval officer.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (British slang) a scientist or technician engaged in military research
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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Checking on the boffin was her first responsibility, a duty she was already late for.
LEVIATHAN MR. SCOTT WESTERFELD 2009
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Checking on the boffin was her first responsibility, a duty she was already late for.
LEVIATHAN MR. SCOTT WESTERFELD 2009
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Seriously, the boffin was a particular type of scientist who could understand the viewpoint of the services, who worked with them, and who frequently shared their dangers.
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Just in case you still think Jones is just some no-name boffin toiling pitifully in academia's climate change coal mines, one file in the exposed CRU records reveals that he has collected 13.7 million in grants since 1990.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED 2009
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Before he found TV success in The Thick of It, Chris Addison was known as the boffin-comic:
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I think the word "boffin" should get its own tag...it's magnificent.
"What counts as a swot varies from school to school..." Ann Althouse 2009
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In connection with a major TV series they are producing about the OED, the BBC has set up a nifty Word Hunt site where readers can help identify the origins and first uses of 50 terms, ranging from "boffin" and "bog standard" to "ska" and "snazzy."
Archive 2005-06-01 KaneCitizen 2005
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Calling anyone within a 100 yard radius of a petri dish a "boffin".
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Calling anyone within a 100 yard radius of a petri dish a "boffin".
Word Magazine - Comments PaddyB 2008
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"boffin" is a real account, but there is no indication as to why it is abused in this spam.
ulleskelf commented on the word boffin
In tabloid newspapers, scientists are always boffins - "Boffins today discovered..." - especially if it's a not particularly serious piece of research. Boffins would never discover the cure for cancer, but they would tell us why toast always lands buttered-side down on the floor.
October 12, 2007
yarb commented on the word boffin
I heard that in Iceland they eat boffins.
October 12, 2007
john commented on the word boffin
“Many thanks go out to Evan Sandhaus and the other boffins at R&D for making this resource publicly available to researchers.�?
The New York Times, Fatten Up Your Corpus, by Jacob Harris, January 12, 2009
January 13, 2009
reesetee commented on the word boffin
And here I thought that a boffin was a nice little seabird.
January 14, 2009
Prolagus commented on the word boffin
(I just want your jeans, by God Help the Girl)
May 2, 2010
agatehinge commented on the word boffin
This should also be a hard stale biscuit that you may throw out of a window above the second floor.
May 3, 2010
gangerh commented on the word boffin
A defenestrated boffin, then.
*hurls hard stale cupcake*
May 3, 2010
reesetee commented on the word boffin
Gangerh, I was just going to say that it reminds me of the sound of fufluns hitting something soft. ;-)
May 4, 2010
agatehinge commented on the word boffin
Defenestrated boffins, as I imagine them: cartoon
May 5, 2010
agatehinge commented on the word boffin
Another idea for an image of defenestrated boffins... a depiction in the manner of Monty Python re: Admiral Nelson.
May 5, 2010
yarb commented on the word boffin
Algeria consult overseas boffins to get World Cup edge.
May 6, 2010