scarf

A2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈskɑɹf/ UK /ˈskɑːf/ See IPA manual

Freq #6323

Meanings

1

noun
A piece of cloth worn around the neck or head for warmth or decoration.

She wrapped a wool scarf around her neck before going out.
2

verb
To eat something very quickly.

He scarfed down the whole pizza in minutes.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 verb · to eat something very quickly. scarf downscoff guzzle

Word family

Forms scarfsscarves

Derived forms enscarfhead-scarfoverscarfscarf-skinscarfablescarferscarfiescarflessscarflikescarfmakerscarfpinscarfwise

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

scarf joint
an end-to-end joint made by fitting shaped ends of wood or metal together

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Scarf probably comes from Old Northern French escarpe, apparently the same word as Old French escharpe, “pilgrim's bag or pouch.” In the 16th century it referred to a sashlike garment worn chiefly by officials or soldiers and used for carrying things, before developing its modern use.

Etymology

Generally thought to be a variant, attested since the 1950s, of scoff (“eat (quickly)”) (of which scorf is another attested variant), itself a variant of scaff. Sometimes alternatively suggested to be a dialectal survival of Old English scearfian, sceorfan (“gnaw, bite”) (compare scurf).

scearfian Old English

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Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# scarf

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈskɑɹf/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈskɑːf/
**Frequency rank:** 6323

## Meanings
1. A piece of cloth worn around the neck or head for warmth or decoration.
2. To eat something very quickly.

## Examples
- She wrapped a wool scarf around her neck before going out.
- He scarfed down the whole pizza in minutes.

## Derived Forms
- enscarf
- head-scarf
- overscarf
- scarf-skin
- scarfable
- scarfer
- scarfie
- scarfless
- scarflike
- scarfmaker
- scarfpin
- scarfwise

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: scearfian

## Etymology
Generally thought to be a variant, attested since the 1950s, of scoff (“eat (quickly)”) (of which scorf is another attested variant), itself a variant of scaff. Sometimes alternatively suggested to be a dialectal survival of Old English scearfian, sceorfan (“gnaw, bite”) (compare scurf).

## AI Etymology
Scarf generally thought to be a variant, attested since the 1950s, of scoff (“eat (quickly)”) (of which scorf is another attested variant), itself a variant of scaff. Sometimes alternatively suggested to be a dialectal survival of Old English scearfian, sceorfan (“gnaw, bite”) (compare scurf). Modern senses include a piece of cloth worn around the neck or head for warmth or decoration. and to eat something very quickly.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as enscarf, head-scarf, overscarf, scarf-skin, scarfable, and scarfer.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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