/ skɒf; NAmE skɔːf; skɑːf/ verb
1.
scoff (at sb/sth) to talk about sb/sth in a way that makes it clear that you think they are stupid or ridiculous
SYN mock :
[ v ]
He scoffed at our amateurish attempts.
Don't scoff—she's absolutely right.
[also v speech ]
2.
[ vn ] ( BrE ) ( NAmE scarf ) ( informal ) to eat a lot of sth quickly :
Who scoffed all the grapes?
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WORD ORIGIN
sense 1 Middle English (first used as a noun in the sense mockery, scorn ): perhaps of Scandinavian origin.
sense 2 late 18th cent. (as a verb): originally a variant of Scots and dialect scaff . The noun is from Afrikaans schoff , representing Dutch schoft quarter of a day, (by extension) meal.