cuffing

/ˈkʌfɪŋ/

cuffing is the present participle and gerund of cuff.

Noun

cuffing (countable and uncountable, plural cuffings)

The act by which somebody is cuffed or struck.
- I was able to remember that the method seemed right and natural to me in those days, I being born to it and unaware that elsewhere there were other methods; but I was also able to remember that those unresented cuffings made me sorry for the victim and ashamed for the punisher.1897, Mark Twain, Following the Equator […] , New York: American Publishing Company
The act or process of placing handcuffs on a person.

cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed)

cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed)

(transitive) To handcuff.
(slang, transitive) To enter into a committed romantic relationship with (someone).
- cuffing season

cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed)

(transitive) To hit, as a reproach, particularly with the open palm to the head; to slap.
- I swear I'll cuff you, if you strike again.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
(intransitive) To fight; to scuffle; to box.
- While the peers cuff to make the rabble sport.1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Eighth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […]...
To buffet.
- cuffed by the gale1855, Alfred Tennyson, “Maud”, in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 24

plural	cuffings

What does cuffing mean?: Cuffing means the act by which somebody is cuffed or struck.
What is cuffing the present participle and gerund of?: Cuffing is the present participle and gerund of cuff.
What part of speech is cuffing?: Cuffing is a noun.
How do you pronounce cuffing?: Cuffing is pronounced /ˈkʌfɪŋ/.
What is the plural of cuffing?: The plural of cuffing is cuffings.

Adapted from Wiktionary: cuffing (page history and authors); cuff (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “cuffing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cuffing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.