Turf

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)f

Origin

From Middle English turf, torf, from Old English turf ("turf, sod, soil, piece of grass covered earth, greensward"), from Proto-Germanic *turbaz ("turf, lawn"), from Proto-Indo-European *dorbh- ("tuft, grass"). Cognate with Dutch turf ("turf"), Low German torf ("turf"), German dialectal Turbe ("turf"), German Torf ("peat, turf"), Swedish torf ("turf"), Icelandic torf ("turf"), Sanskrit (darbha, "a kind of grass").

Full definition of turf

Noun

1. A layer of earth covered with grass; sod.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 8, Miss Thorn began digging up the turf with her lofter: it was a painful moment for me. ¶ “You might at least have tried me, Mrs. Cooke,” I said.
2. A piece of such a layer cut from the soil and used to make a lawn.
3. (Ireland) A sod of peat used as fuel.
4. (slang) The territory claimed by a person, gang, etc. as their own.
5. A racetrack; or the sport of racing horses.

Derived terms

• artificial turf
• AstroTurf
• turf accountant
• turf bank
• turfen
• turfy

Verb

1. to create a lawn by laying turfs
2. (Ultimate Frisbee) To throw a frisbee well short of its intended target, usually causing it to hit the ground within 10 yards of its release.
3. (business) To fire from a job or dismiss from a task.Eight managers were turfed after the merger of the two companies.
4. (business) To cancel a project or product.The company turfed the concept car because the prototype performed poorly.

Derived terms

• turfer
• turf out

Anagrams

• ruft