muff

/mʌf/
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muff

A player drops the muff during the game.

Definition

  1. Noun:

    • A warm tubular covering for the hands: A piece of clothing, typically made of fur or thick fabric, worn to keep the hands warm. It is open at both ends, allowing the hands to be inserted.
    • (Sports) The act of dropping or failing to catch a ball: A mistake in sports, especially in baseball or cricket, where a player fails to catch a ball they should have caught.

  2. Verb:

    • To handle clumsily; to fail to catch or hold onto something, especially a ball: To make a mistake in attempting to catch or handle something.
    • To bungle or perform poorly at a task: To make a mess of something; to ruin or spoil an opportunity through incompetence.
Examples of Usage

  • Noun (Hand covering):

    • She kept her hands warm in a fur muff during the winter walk.
    • The vintage muff was an elegant accessory with her coat.

  • Noun (Sports error):

    • The center fielder's costly muff in the ninth inning allowed the winning run to score.
    • The game was lost due to a simple muff of an easy catch.

  • Verb (Fail to catch):

    • The receiver muffed the punt, and the other team recovered the ball.
    • He muffed the easy fly ball, much to the crowd's disappointment.

  • Verb (Bungle a task):

    • I muffed my lines in the school play.
    • She had a chance to win the point but muffed her shot completely.
Advanced Usage

  • "to muff one's lines": To forget or deliver one's lines in a play or speech poorly.

    • The nervous actor muffed his lines in the first act.

  • "to muff an opportunity": To fail to take advantage of a good chance.

    • He muffed a golden opportunity to score by shooting wide of the open goal.
Variants and Related Words
  • Muffler (n): A scarf worn around the neck for warmth. (Note: This is a related but distinct item from a hand muff).
Synonyms
  • Noun (Error): Fumble, blunder, error, mistake.
  • Verb (Bungle): Botch, flub, screw up, ruin, spoil, fumble.
Related Phrasal Verbs

(This word does not commonly form phrasal verbs.)

Related Idioms
  • "Make a muff of (something)": To make a complete mess or failure of something. (Less common, but related to the verb sense).
    • He made a complete muff of the presentation.
muff

A player drops the muff during the game.

Noun
  1. (sports) dropping the ball
  2. a warm tubular covering for the hands
Verb
  1. make a mess of, destroy or ruin
    • I botched the dinner and we had to eat out
    • the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement
  2. fail to catch, as of a ball

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