/fawl"staf, -stahf/ , n.
1. Sir John , the jovial, fat knight of brazen assurance and few scruples in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
2. ( italics ) an opera (1893) by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Arrigo Boito based on the Shakespearean character.