Definition of gaff
1a : a spear or spearhead for taking fish or turtlesb : a handled hook for holding or lifting heavy fishc : a metal spur for a gamecockd : a butcher's hooke : a climbing iron or its steel point
2 : the spar (see 1spar 2a) on which the head of a fore-and-aft sail is extended
3 : gaffe
From the M-W Editors
Origin and Etymology of gaff
borrowed from French gaffe, going back to Middle French, borrowed from Old Occitan gaf, probably derivative of gafar “to seize,” of obscure origin ◆Middle English gaffe, occurring in the early 14th-century “Kildare Poems” (British Library MS Harley 913) and glossed “iron hook” in the Middle English Dictionary, is of uncertain relation to the modern word. It predates attestations of the word in French.
gaff
Definition of gaff
transitive verb
1 : to strike or secure with a spear or hook gaff a salmon
2 : to fit (a gamecock) with a metal spur
Origin and Etymology of gaff
derivative of 1gaff
gaff
Definition of gaff
British
: a cheap theater or music hall
Origin and Etymology of gaff
of obscure origin
Other Performing Arts Terms
Origin and Etymology of gaff
of obscure origin
Origin and Etymology of gaff
probably derivative of 4gaff
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