▪ I. gaff, n.1
(gæf)
Also 3, 7–9 gaffe.
[a. F. gaffe = Sp., Pg. gafa fem., Pr. gaf masc., boat-hook.]
1. a. An iron hook; a staff or stick armed with this. Now only dial.
| a 1300 Sat. People Kildare iv. in E.E.P. (1862) 153 Hail, seint dominik with þi lang staffe hit is at þe ouir end crokid as a gaffe. 1867 W. F. Rock Jim an' Nell lxxiv. (E.D.S. No. 76), A guidestrap, hayvor-seed, A gaff, dree picks vrom Varmer Reed. Ibid. Gloss., Gaff, an instrument with long handle, used to pull furze out of the furze-rick. |
b. spec. A barbed fishing spear; also, a stick armed with an iron hook for landing large fish, esp. salmon. Phrase, to bring (a hooked fish) to gaff.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Gaffe, an iron hook where⁓with Seamen pull great Fishes into their ships. 1706 in Phillips (ed. Kersey). 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VI. iv. iii. 394 They begin to knock it [a turtle] on the head with their gaffs. 1844 W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scotl. (1855) 338 The poacher, with a gaff and torch, selects some gravelly ford. 1885 Black White Heather iii, Ronald had got him transfixed on the gaff and landed. 1886 Q. Rev. Oct. CLXIII. 351 When a fish is beat and is being brought to gaff, much caution is necessary. |
2. Naut. ‘A spar used in ships to extend the heads of fore-and-aft sails which are not set on stays’ (Adm. Smyth).
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Rr ij b, In the schooner both the mainsail and foresail are extended by a boom and gaff. 1796 Huddart in Phil. Trans. LXXXVII. 32 The angle made by the gaff and mast. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast ix. 22 We..pulled for a light, which, as we came up, we found had been run up to our trysail gaff. 1893 H. M. Doughty Wherry in Wendish Lands Introd. 15 One sail with very high peak and an enormous gaff. |
3. a. A steel spur for a fighting cock: = gablock 1 and gaffle 3. b. The spike of a spur.
| a. 1688 [see gablock 1]. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Gaff, an artificial Spur for a Cock. 1893 in Farmer Slang Dict. |
| b. 1808 Pike Sources Mississ. iii. iv. (1895) 788 The dragoons wear..a sort of jack-boot.. to which are fastened, by a rivet, the spurs, the gaffs of which are sometimes near an inch in length. |
† 4. Card-sharping. ‘A ring worn by the dealer’ (Farmer). Obs.
5. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) gaff(s)-man, gaff-net, gaff-point; (sense 2) gaff-end, gaff-jaw, gaff-sail (also attrib.); gaff-rigged adj.; gaff-hook = sense 1; gaff-setter, a boat-hook; gaff-string (see quot.). Also gaff-topsail.
| 1851 Voy. Mauritius i. 10 Up ran certain bits of red and blue and yellow bunting to her *gaff-end. |
| 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. xi, Boots seized the *gaff-hook..and was going to plunge it deep into the pike's jaws. 1854 Badham Halieut. 17 They had neither..gaff-hook, nor landing-net. |
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 25 July 7/2 Vigilant's *gaff-jaws broke, and just as Britannia was catching up, her spinnaker went wrong. |
| 1875 F. Francis in Encycl. Brit. II. 39/2 The *gaffsman..drags it out of the water to the land. 1885 Athenæum 14 Mar. 337/3 A Norwegian gaff-man's feelings are not very acute. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Gaff-net, a peculiar net for fishing. |
| 1845 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 288 His armour of scales defied the *gaff-point. |
| 1933 ‘L. Luard’ All Hands 256 A gaff-rigged ketch. 1961 Times 5 Aug. 7/7 They made the crossing in a gaff-rigged yawl. |
| 1886 J. M. Caulfeild Seamanship Notes 2 In setting a *gaff-sail..keep the throat ahead of peak. 1891 Daily News 9 Sept. 3/3 The veteran..won the match for sprit and gaff sail boats by a long way ahead. |
| 1861 Mayhew Lond. Labour III. 270 The staffsman then fastens the staff to the lighter by means of the *gaffstring or rope attached to the side of the vessel. |
▪ II. gaff, n.2 slang.
(gæf)
[Of obscure origin; cf. gab n.1, OE. (ᵹe)gaf-sprǽc, blasphemous or ribald speech, Sc. local ‘gaff, loud, rude talk’, ‘to gaff, to talk loudly and merrily’ (Jam.), and mod.F. (colloq.) une gaffe, a remark by which one ‘puts one's foot into it’.]
1. a. ? Vociferation, outcry. b. Humbug, ‘stuff and nonsense’.
| 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 267 Stifle e'en a bull⁓dog's gaff. 1877 Five Yrs.' Penal Serv. iv. 151, I also saw that Jemmy's blowing up of me was all ‘gaff’. |
2. Phrase. to blow the gaff: (fig.) to let out a secret; to reveal a plot, or give convicting evidence.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Blow the gaff. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xliii, I wasn't going to blow the gaff, so I told him, as a great secret, that we got it [the gun] up with a kite. 1877 Five Yrs.' Penal Serv. ii. 122 The prisoner..quietly bides his time till the chief warder comes round, then asks to speak to him, and ‘blows the gaff’. |
3. to stand the gaff, to receive severe treatment, criticism, etc. Similarly to give, take, etc., the gaff. U.S.
| 1896 Ade Artie xii. 111 If he gets the gaff he'll be flat on his back. 1899 A. Thomas Arizona 124 Will they stand the gaff? Will they set sixty hours in the saddle..? 1903 McClure's Mag. Oct. 563 ‘Good,’ they cheer, when you find fault; ‘give us the gaff. We deserve it and it does us good.’ 1910 W. M. Raine B. O'Conner 244 Neil has got to stand the gaff for what he's done. 1924 ― Troubled Waters xviii. 194 Just because he shuts his mouth and stands the gaff. |
▪ III. gaff, n.3 Obs. exc. dial.
(gæf)
Also 6 gaffe.
[short for gaffer.]
= gaffer 1.
| 1573 Tusser Husb. xxii. (1878) 60 Mixe well (old gaffe) horse corne with chaffe. 1877 in N.W. Linc. Gloss., Gaff. |
▪ IV. gaff, n.4 slang.
(gæf)
[Of unknown origin.]
1. A fair.
| 1753 J. Poulter Discov. 31 The first Thing they do at a Gaff is to look for a Room clear of Company. 1811 Lex. Balatron. s.v., The drop coves maced the joskins at the Gaff; the ring-droppers cheated the countryman at the fair. 1821 D. Haggart Life 22 We stopped at this place two days, waiting to attend the Gaff. |
2. Any public place of amusement. Hence the term has passed into the literary vocabulary as the name for the low class of theatre or music-hall to which it is most frequently applied by slang speakers. Also penny-gaff.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., Any public place of amusement is liable to be called the gaff, when spoken of in flash company. 1856 Chamb. Jrnl. 11 Oct. 228/1 Would you root out the Penny Gaff, and compel the penny-paying public..to find amusement elsewhere? 1861 Mayhew Lond. Labour III. 144 When a professional goes to a gaff to get an engagement, they in general inquire whether he is a good ballet performer. 1863 Q. Rev. July CXIV. 264 He knows them all..from the chief opera-house..to the humblest gaffs (as we believe they would be called in London). 1864 Sat. Rev. 30 Apr. 516 A piece of histrionics rather below the mark of a penny gaff. 1887 Contemp. Rev. Mar. 400, I had always wanted to see a Penny Gaff since I first read my Dickens. |
3. a. A house, shop, or other building.
| 1932 G. S. Moncrieff Café Bar viii. 73 He went back to his gaff and broke into the gas meter. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid ii. 20, I had it off last week.., not a big job, just a little snout gaff. 1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock iii. iii. 125 The barred and battlemented Salvation Army gaff. Ibid. v. i. 188 It's the best road-house this side of London... You can't pick 'em [sc. girls] up in this gaff. 1961 J. MacLaren-Ross Doomsday Book i. viii. 86, I was keeping an eye on the gaff—seen you going in. 1971 Fremdsprachen XV. 63 Two new words..for a flat or dwelling are ‘pad’ and ‘gaff’. |
b. spec. A brothel; a prostitute's room.
| 1947 New Statesman 10 May 330/3 In most cases the girls do not live where they work (they call this their ‘gaff’). 1959 Streetwalker i. 14 Take a cab for the five minutes drive back to your gaff, or flat. |
▪ V. gaff, v.1
(gæf)
[f. gaff n.1]
trans. To seize or strike (a fish) with a gaff; also, to draw out with a gaff.
| 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. xi, I bid him..slack his hand the moment I had gaffed him [the pike]. 1851 Newland Erne 352, I..gaffed him out of the great boiling turnhole below. 1867 B. Osborne Sp. in Ho. Com. 8 Apr., The hon. member for Lincolnshire, though a solitary fish, rose to the occasion, and he was safely gaffed and landed. 1882 Garden 11 Feb. 101/1 The Japanese were gaffing salmon. |
Hence ˈgaffing vbl. n.; also attrib. Also ˈgaffer, one who gaffs fish. (In some mod. Dicts.)
| 1837 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. II. 171 Spearing, gaffing, and harpooning, are amongst the most obvious methods. 1886 Fishing 18 Sept. 417 He hooked a large grilse, but lost him in gaffing. 1895 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 288 Harry brought him within gaffing distance. |
▪ VI. gaff, v.2
(gæf)
1. intr. To gamble, esp. to ‘toss up’. slang and Colonial.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Gaff, to gamble with cards, dice, &c., or to toss up. 1828 ‘Jon Bee’ Living Pict. Lond. 243 Though any gentleman would gaff for a pound, there or any where else. 1889 Boldrewood Robbery under Arms (1890) 17 Catch him gaffing! no, not for a sixpence. |
2. trans. To deceive or trick; to make (a game or device) crooked or dishonest. orig. U.S.
| 1934 J. Proskauer Suckers All 15 He was..putting in slot machines for a racketeer, and ‘gaffing’ them..to increase the house percentage. Ibid. v. 77 There was a way of gaffing every game. 1935 N. Ersine Underworld & Prison Slang 39 Gaff, to cheat. 1963 New Scientist 6 June 553 Roulette wheels can of course be crookedly fixed (‘gaffed’ is the trade term). 1965 H. Gold Man who was not with It xv. 135, I want to play you straight fifty-fifty, not gaff you for fifty-fifty. |
Hence ˈgaffing vbl. n. Also ˈgaffer, one who ‘gaffs’ or ‘tosses up’.
| 1828 ‘Jon Bee’ Living Pict. Lond. 241, I know of but one such public-house where gaffing is carried on to any amount... If the person calling for ‘man’ or ‘woman’, is not right or wrong at five pieces, neither of the gaffers win or lose, but go again. |
▪ VII. gaff, v.3 Theatr.
(gæf)
[f. gaff n.4]
intr. ‘To play in a gaff’ (Farmer).
▪ VIII. gaff
var. of or error for goff, golf.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 154/1 Pythus, the first inventer of many Games at Ball: I do not say of Gaff, Tennis, or Paille-Maille. |