n. 1 a projecting starched frill worn round the neck esp. in the 16th c. 2 a projecting or conspicuously coloured ring of feathers or hair round a bird's or animal's neck. 3 a domestic pigeon like a jacobin. 4 (fem. reeve) a wading bird, Philomachus pugnax, of which the male has a ruff and ear-tufts in the breeding season. rufflike adj.
[ perh. f. ruff = ROUGH ]