▪ I. furry, a. (and n.1)
(ˈfɜːrɪ)
[f. fur n. + -y1.]
A. adj.
1. Of or composed of fur; consisting of furs.
| a 1674 Milton Hist. Mosc. ii. (1851) 483 The Furs which clothe them; the furry side in Summer outward. 1725 Pope Odyss. xvii. 40 Euryclea spreads With furry spoils of beasts the splendid beds. 1881 R. Routledge Hist. Sc. i. 1 Man is even unprotected from the vicissitudes of the seasons by the furry coat which covers the beasts of the field. |
2. Of animals: Covered with fur; furred.
| 1687 Dryden Hind & P. iii. 25 The time When all her furry sons in frequent senate met. 1823 Byron Juan x. xxvi, Bear-skins black and furry. 1873 G. C. Davies Mount. & Mere viii. 59 A furry little water-rat swimming along by the edge of the bank. |
| fig. 1865 Pall Mall G. 22 June 11 He is one of those sleek ‘furry’ little men who are met with in all close religious communities. |
3. Of persons: Wearing fur, clad in furs.
| 1717 Fenton Ode Ld. Gower 36 From Volga's Banks, th' imperious Czar Leads forth his Furry Troops to War. |
4. Made of fur, lined or trimmed with fur.
| 1865 Kingsley Herew. vi, His furry cloak shewed him to be no common man. 1872 Bryant Poems, Little People of Show 97 With ample furry robe Close-belted round her waist. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1691 Dryden K. Arthur iii. ii, Awake, awake, And winter from thy furry mantle shake. 1716 Rowe Ode for N. Year 1717 i, Winter! thou hoary, venerable Sire, All richly in thy furry Mantle clad. 1835 Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. xlvi. 591 We wrap ourselves up in a sort of furry contentment. |
5. Resembling fur, fur-like, soft.
| 1876 T. Hardy Ethelberta (1890) 88 An open space..floored at the bottom with..cushions of furry moss. |
6. Of the nature of, or coated with, fur or morbid matter.
| 1739 ‘R. Bull’ tr. Dedekindus' Grobianus 222 Laughter misbecomes Foul furry Teeth. 1836 T. Hook G. Gurney III. i. 31 Two foggy decanters, half full of the remnants of yesterday's libation, with a sort of furry rim just over the surface. 1856 Canning in Hare 2 Noble Lives (1893) II. 89 One's shoes get furry with mildew in a day. 1871 G. H. Napheys Prev. & Cure Dis. iii. ii. 624 Yellowish furry coating [of the tongue]. |
† B. n. A hairy caterpillar. Obs.
| 1598 Florio, Millepiedi, a worme having manie feete, called a furrie or a palmer. |
Add: Hence ˈfurriness n., the quality or state of being furry; also transf.
| 1900 Westm. Gaz. 18 Oct. 3/1 The fluffy effect of the marabout and chiffon and the soft furriness of the zibeline made a cloak enviably soft, luxurious, and light. 1919 H. G. Wells Outl. Hist. (1920) I. i. iii. 13/2 Then on the cold side this species will still be going on to its utmost possible furriness and whiteness. 1989 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Jan. 51/3 Hobhouse's thought has a characteristic furriness that makes him the ideal philosophical standard-bearer for Neil Kinnock and Roy Hattersley. |
▸ orig. and chiefly U.S. a. Any fur-bearing animal.
| 1945 Chicago Sunday Tribune 14 Oct. iii. 4/1, 250 ‘furries’ entered. About 250 rabbits and their owners gathered recently for a one day show. 1977 K. E. Woodwiss Shanna 341 The small, red-eyed furries grew bolder... A rat scurried towards her. 2008 Coventry Evening Tel. (Nexis) 12 Jan. 19 Small furries, such as rabbits and hamsters, often require special care during the winter. |
b. slang. Also with capital initial. An enthusiast for anthropomorphic animal characters, esp. a person who dresses up in costume as such a character or uses one as an avatar in a computer-generated environment.
For some enthusiasts, this interest has a sexual dimension.
| 1989Thank-yous & Goodbyes in alt.callahans (Usenet newsgroup) 13 Dec. Furries have many different ways to relate to their furrypersonas. 1994 LAN Computing (Nexis) Jan. 46 Furries seem hornier than most denizens of cyberspace. 1999 Wired Feb. 72/1 Furries..idolize animals to such a degree that they choose to adopt feral identities. 2008 National Post (Toronto) (Nexis) 10 July al2 Become a Furry, where everyone is equally attractive because they all have three pounds of faux fur and papier mache over their face. |
▸ furry dice n. chiefly Brit. = fluffy dice n. at fluffy adj. Additions.
| 1962 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 21 Apr. 3 (headline) Foxtails, *furry dice are out, drivers warned. 1982 Times 15 Jan. (Preview section) p. xv/3 Its respectably bland image cannot disguise a more louche reputation as ‘the motor’ of the aging Teddy Boy..complete with furry dice in the window. 1995 Guardian (Nexis) 9 June t18 The ultimate in Ford Cortina and furry dice naffness. |
▪ II. furry, n.2 dial.
(ˈfʌrɪ)
[Perh. in some way connected with fair n., L. fēria.]
A festival observed at Helston, Cornwall, on the eighth of May; also, a peculiar dance used on that occasion. (The W. Cornwall Gloss. gives faddy and flora as synonyms.) Also attrib.
| 1790 in Gentl. Mag. LX. i. 520 At Helstone..it is customary to dedicate the 8th of May to revelry..It is called the Furry⁓day. 1848 C. A. Johns Week at Lizard 225 A large party of ladies and gentlemen..commence a peculiar kind of dance, called ‘the furry’. 1872 Hardwick Trad. Lanc. 87 A spring festival..annually celebrated at Helston..named the ‘Furry’, or gathering. |
For ‘Also attrib.’ read: Also attrib., esp. as furry dance, furry day. (Later examples.)
| 1928 Radio Times 20 Jan. 110/1 The next tune to appear is that of the Helston Furry Dance. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XI. 413/1 May 8 is Furry (Flora) day, an old festival when church bells are rung early in the morning and processions dance..to traditional music. 1973 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 15 July 11/2 Over the hundreds of years, three names have been in use to denote the Furry Dance. They are Flora, Furry and Faddy. 1988 Country Walking May 31/2 If you..happened to be in Helston on the 8th of May then you might be invited to join in the Furry Dance. |
▪ III. † ˈfurry, v. Obs. rare.
[? back-formation from furrier1.]
trans. To quarter (soldiers).
| 1579 Fenton Guicciard. ii. 89 The armie being furried in many partes of the realme..lived in such vnbrideled incontinencie [etc.]. |