▪ I. raff, n.1
(ræf)
Also 4–5 (9) raf, 6–7 raffe.
[app. the second member in the phrase riff and raff one and all, every one, everything: see riff and riff-raff. But senses 3–6 may be (at least in part) of different origin: cf. raff v. and Sw. rafs rubbish, rag-tag.]
1. north. and Sc. Abundance, plenty. ? Obs.
| c 1320 Sir Tristr. 328 He ȝaf has he gan winne In raf [rime ȝaf]. 1768 Ross Helenore ii. 90, I thought ay ye wad brak naething aff, I mind ye liked ay to see a raff. 1806 Jamieson Dey's Sang in Popular Ball. II. 363 He'll bless your bouk whan far awa,..And scaff and raff ye ay sall ha'. |
b. A large number or collection. = raft n.2
| a 1677 Barrow Unity of Church Serm. (1687) 321 The Synod of Trent [was called] to settle a raff of Errours and Superstitions. 1825 Brockett, Raff,..a great quantity, a great number. ‘A raff of fellows’, a great many men. |
† 2. A class of persons. Obs. rare—1.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 136 Fiue þousand marke he gaf, Tille heremites & tille seke men, & oþer of suilk raf. |
3. a. Worthless material, trash, rubbish, refuse. Now only dial.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 827 Take chaf & raf [L. purgamenta] And ley hit on thy lond..And when thou sist the myst, let brenne vp chaf And raf. 1645 Ward Serm. bef. Ho. Comm. 31 Whatever seed is cast in, it returns nothing but Carlock and such like raffe. 1811 Willan Archæologia (E.D.S.), Raff, scum, refuse. 1869– In dial. glossaries (Lonsd., E. Angl., Cornw.). |
b. spec. Ore which requires re-crushing; raff-wheel, a wheel for lifting such ore.
| 1867 Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 6) II. 72 The hopper is continuously charged, and that portion which is not reduced sufficiently fine is returned by the raff wheel to be recrushed. 1902 Trans. Inst. Mining & Metall. X. 459 The stuff rejected by..[a cylindrical trommel] is brought back by means of a Raff wheel and re-crushed. |
4. collect. a. The common run (of people); the ruck or rag-tag; the lowest class of the populace.
| 1673 Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 413 Among the raffe of the meaner and most unexperienced mariners. 1823 C. Westmacott Points of Misery 34 The impertinent curiosity of the town raff. 1838 Dickens O. Twist l, Ragged children, and the very raff and refuse of the river. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. vi. xlii, The raff and scum go there to be maintained like able-bodied paupers. |
b. Without article: Persons of the lowest class.
| 1811 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Carlton House Fête Wks. 1812 V. 413 Raff that we Britons with our freedom trust. 1824 Hist. Gaming 27 He took to drinking and frequented low houses of Irish raff. 1848 Dickens Dombey ix, Mrs. McStinger immediately demanded whether..she was to be broke in upon by ‘raff’. |
5. A low worthless fellow.
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Raffs, an appellation given by the gownsmen of the university of Oxford to the inhabitants of that place. 1800 Sporting Mag. XV. 86 Went down into St. Thomas's, and fought a raff. 1827 Scott Two Drovers ii, You..have behaved to our friend..here like a raff and a blackguard. 1856 F. E. Paget Owlet of Owlst. 184 That raff of a fellow that had ‘Swindler’ stamped on every feature of his dirty face. |
6. attrib. or as adj. = raffish.
| 1823 in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. 485 My Lady has no disposition To have her name seen..with the raff Opposition. 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxx, There is the English raff snob that frequents Estaminets. |
▪ II. † raff, n.2 Obs.
[Onomatopœic.]
A word used by itself or in combination with similar forms, to denote verse (alliterative or riming) of a rude kind, or in which sound is more prominent than sense.
| a 1300 Body & Soul 57 in Map's Poems 340 For to bere thi word so wyde And maken of the rym and raf. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. Prol. 43 (Harl. MS.), I can not geste rum raf ruf by letter. 1418–20 J. Page Siege Rouen in Hist. Coll. Citizen Lond. (Camden) 46 Thys procesce made John Page, Alle in raffe and not in ryme. 1575 Gascoigne Weedes, Gr. Knt.'s Farew. Fansie, A fansie fedde me ones, to wryte in verse and rime,..To rumble rime in raffe and ruffe. 1600 Nashe Summer's Last Will D 3 To hold him halfe the night with riffe, raffe, of the rumming of Elanor. |
▪ III. raff, n.3
(ræf)
Also 5 raaf, raf, 7 raffe, 9 raft.
[? a. G. raf, raff(e, obs. or dial. ff. rafe rafter, beam.]
Foreign timber, usually in the form of deals.
| c 1440 [see raff-man, -ware in b]. 1667 Lond. Gaz. No. 124/1 The Three Kings, belonging to Stockholm,..laden with Raffe,..about 7000 Deals. 1774 Hull Dock Act 6 Hemp, iron, flax, yarn, timber, raff. 1794 R. Lowe View Agric. Notts. 51 By the Trent are carried..Upwards Raff or Norway timber, hemp, flax, iron. 1894 Northumbld. Gloss., Raff, timber, especially in boards and kinds ready for use. |
b. attrib. and Comb., as raff man, raff-merchant, raff-ware, raff-yard (also attrib.).
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 421/2 *Raaf man. [No Latin.] 1459 in Kirkpatrick Relig. Ord. Norwich (1845) 168 William Norwyche, senior, citizen of Norwich, rafman. 1533 in Blomefield Topogr. Hist. Norfolk (1745) II. 148 This year was setled the Order of the Procession of the..Crafts or Companies... 18. The Grocers and Raffmen. |
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 125 The *raffe-merchant may lawfully stile them good deales. 1885 Census Instruct. 20 Raff Merchant. |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 421/2 *Raaf ware. [No Latin.] 1606 Charter in Brand Newcastle (1789) II. 700 Hemp, pitch, tarr, or any other goodes or raffe wares. |
| 1840 Evid. Hull Docks Comm. 51 There should be room for *raft-yards and timber-yards. 1886 M. Linskill Haven Hill I. i. 12 Tall, white hanging cranes were gleaming in the raff yards. 1885 Census Instruct. 20 Raff yard Labourer. |
▪ IV. † raff, n.4 Obs. rare—1.
A grain-measure (see quot. and curnock).
| 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Dry Measure, Two curnocks make a quarter seam or Raff. |
▪ V. raff, v. Obs. exc. dial.
(ræf)
Also 7 raffe.
[Of obscure origin: cf. obs. F. rafer ‘to catch, or snatch, also to scrape’ (Cotgr.); Sw. rafsa ‘to sweep together, huddle up’.]
trans. To sweep together.
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 69 b, That Church-ales ought to bee sorted in the better ranke of these twaine, may be gathered from their causes and effects, which I thus raffe up together. 1876 Mid. Yorksh. Gloss., Raff,..to brush or rake together promiscuously. |
▪ VI. raff
obs. form of raft n.1