Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A fool; an idiot; a block-head.
  • To be foolish; make sport; play; toy.
  • To toss aside; put off; doff.
  • To turn (one) aside.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To cast aside; to put off; to doff.
  • noun obsolete A stupid, blockish fellow; a numskull.
  • transitive verb Prov. Eng. To daunt.
  • intransitive verb Scot. To act foolishly; to be foolish or sportive; to toy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A fool; an idiot; a blockhead.
  • noun UK, informal Short form of daffodil.
  • verb transitive To toss aside; put off; doff.
  • verb transitive To turn (someone) aside; divert.
  • verb intransitive To be foolish; make sport; play; toy.
  • verb UK, dialect To daunt.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From daffodil.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English daf, daffe ("fool, idiot"), from Old Norse daufr ("deaf, stupid"), from Proto-Germanic *daubaz (“deaf, stunned”), from Proto-Indo-European *dheubh- (“to whisk, whirl, smoke, be obscure”). Cognate with Swedish döf ("deaf"), Danish døv ("deaf, stupid"). More at deaf.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English daffen ("to render foolish"), from daf, daffe ("fool, idiot"). See above.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Variant of doff.

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