tuft

/təft/

/təft/

Other forms: tufts

A tuft is a clump or a bunch of something soft and feathery, like a fluffy tuft of fur on your puppy's head.

Your patchy front lawn might consist of tufts of weeds surrounded by mud, and your teenage brother's attempt at a beard may be nothing more than a little tuft on his chin. The original definition of tuft, "a bunch of soft and flexible things fixed at the base with the upper ends loose," sounds like a bouquet of grass. Experts guess that tuft comes from the Old French touffe, "tuft of hair."

Definitions of tuft

1. noun

   a bunch of hair or feathers or growing grass
   synonyms: tussock

   types:

   wisp

   a small tuft or lock

   hexenbesen, staghead, witch broom, witches' broom

   an abnormal tufted growth of small branches on a tree or shrub caused by fungi or insects or other physiological disturbance

   coma

   (botany) a usually terminal tuft of bracts (as in the pineapple) or tuft of hairs (especially on certain seeds)

   type of:

   bunch, clump, cluster, clustering

   a grouping of a number of similar things
2. noun

   a bunch of feathers or hair
   type of:

   crest

   a showy growth of e.g. feathers or skin on the head of a bird or other animal