/ skrʌf; NAmE / noun
( BrE , informal ) a dirty or untidy person
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IDIOMS
- by the scruff of the / sb's neck
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WORD ORIGIN
idsym. late 18th cent.: alteration of dialect scuff , of obscure origin.
noun early 16th cent. (in the sense flakes of skin ): variant of scurf flakes of skin . The word came to mean worthless thing , whence the current sense (mid 19th cent.).