How to Use duff in a Sentence

duff

noun

• There was a mushroomy scent to the air, rising from deep forest duff.
  — Tribune News Service, oregonlive, 18 July 2021
• However, the overused score by Chris Hou at times strikes a duff note.
  — Alissa Simon, Variety, 25 Nov. 2024
• The fire burned the top layer of the forest floor, known as the duff, Arnum said.
  — Matt Yan, BostonGlobe.com, 23 May 2022
• Carlton stood up, dusted duff and leaves off his pants, and threw out a thin, keening bugle, then sat back down.
  — Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 19 Feb. 2025
• Some assert that deadlines are necessary to get people off their duff.
  — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2021
• Heap up a big mound of duff and detritus from the forest floor, then excavate a pocket that is large enough to crawl into.
  — Keith McCafferty, Field & Stream, 29 June 2023
• Crews cleared vegetation from their bases, and lighted low-intensity fires to burn off duff and litter.
  — Justin Ray, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2021
• Due to early snow melt and a lack of rain in June, the duff layer that blankets the floors of boreal forests and the tundra has dried out.
  — Catherine Garcia, The Week, 25 July 2022
• Hilary Duff is a duff-initely sad about her relationship with sister Haylie.
  — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2026
• The thick duff layers across high latitudes store 30 to 40 percent of all the soil carbon on Earth.
  — Randi Jandt, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2021
• Hotshot personnel lighted low-intensity fires to burn off duff and litter.
  — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2021
• Despite recent cool weather and clouds in the area, the duff, which is organic matter covering the soil, is extremely dry.
  — Emily Goodykoontz, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2021
• Removing fuel meant clearing roots, underbrush, branches, and duff.
  — Jeffrey E. Stern, The Atlantic, 30 Aug. 2021
• Instead, Hilary, Stephen, and the Empire staff sell duff, irrelevant movies.
  — Armond White, National Review, 9 Dec. 2022
• That’s a political choice, too — the choice by lawmakers unwilling to get off their duffs to bring those costs under control, say, by capping prescription drug prices.
  — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2023
• The structure of the forest floor depends on the quantity of peat, duff, downed logs, and dead trees—perhaps killed by plagues of beetles, which have thrived as global temperatures have risen.
  — Carolyn Kormann, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2023
• How to avoid shiny object syndrome Experiencing shiny object syndrome doesn’t mean your existing business is duff.
  — Jodie Cook, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2023
• Alaska’s fire season around the solstice is driven by long, warm days that dry out the boreal duff layer that can easily be ignited by lightning, fire officials say.
  — Anchorage Daily News, 16 June 2022
• The trees rely on low- to moderate-intensity fire to reproduce, as bursts of heat prompt their cones to open and flames clear duff from the forest floor so the seeds can better germinate in the soil below, Nelson said.
  — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2022
• Advertisement Now, young stages of butterflies, moths and other beneficial insects are nestled in last year’s leaves, some of them munching on decomposing duff — leaves, twigs, bark and other plant litter.
  — Monica Cardoza, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2023
• The Colorado vet wristed a rebound past goaltender Kevin Lankinen from the left face-off circle with 32 seconds left in the first period — a score that got the Avs off their collective duffs and onto the scoreboard.
  — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 3 Dec. 2025