fluff

«fluff» in Mova's school dictionary: small soft bits of wool, dust, hair or feathers, like the… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (fluff, uncountable); verb (fluff, fluffs, fluffed, fluffing)

meaning for a pupil

1) Fluff is small soft bits of wool, dust, hair or feathers, like the bits in your pocket or under the bed. tree →

2) Fluff is the soft fur or feathers of a young animal, like a chick or a kitten. tree →

3) To fluff something (up) means to shake or pat it so it becomes softer and fuller, like a pillow. tree →

4) To fluff something means to do it badly or make a mistake, like fluffing your lines in a play. tree →

5) Fluff can mean talk or writing with little real meaning. tree →

6) A fluff is a quick, puffing shake of a bird's feathers. tree →

sense in the lessons

Everyday: tumble dryers collect fluff in a filter, which must be cleaned because fluff can catch fire; fluff collects under beds. In science, baby birds have fluffy down to keep warm. In writing lessons, teachers may say «cut the fluff» — remove words that add nothing. Phrases: «fluff up the pillows», «pocket fluff», «a bit of fluff», «fluffed it».

examples

• There's fluff all over your jumper. tree →
• Clean the fluff out of the dryer filter. tree →
• The chick was covered in yellow fluff. tree →
• Fluff up your pillow before you go to sleep. tree →
• I fluffed my line in the school play. tree →
• We found lots of fluff under the sofa. tree →
• The cat's fluff was everywhere. tree →
• His report was mostly fluff and not many facts. tree →
• I really can't be expected to do two things at once.' And with a fluff of her feathers she pushed the egg into the middle of the nest. tree →

note

Uncountable: «some fluff», «a bit of fluff». Adjective: «fluffy» (soft and light, like a fluffy cloud or fluffy towel). Dryer fluff (lint) is a fire risk.

In the corpora

• Goosebumps happen when tiny muscles pull hairs upright; in furry animals this fluffs up the fur to trap warm air or look bigger.
• Goosebumps are left from ancestors with fur: tiny muscles fluffed the fur up to keep warm or look bigger.
• A bird that sits fluffed up and sleepy in the daytime may be sick.
• The tumble dryer's lint filter should be cleaned after each use, because fluff can start a fire.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «fluff» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.