tiffing

Verb (1)

tiff (third-person singular simple present tiffs, present participle tiffing, simple past and past participle tiffed)

1. (informal, intransitive) To be involved in a (generally small) argument or disagreement; to squabble.
   • I very much indeed approve / Of maidens moderating love / Until they've twenty pounds; / […] / Until the twenty pounds were safe, / She tiff'd at Tim, she ran from Ralph, / Squire nodded … deuce a curtsy!1846, Walter Savage Landor, “[Miscellaneous.] [Poem] CCXLII. New Style.”, in The Works of Walter Savage Landor. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 660, column 2

   Synonyms:

   spat, tift, squabble, barney, bicker, quarrel, wrangle, argue, quibble, row

Verb (2)

tiff (third-person singular simple present tiffs, present participle tiffing, simple past and past participle tiffed)

1. (British, India, informal, intransitive) Synonym of tiffin (“to eat a (light) midday meal or snack; to have lunch, to lunch”).
   • Besides that one to which the permanent residence was attached, Mr. Augustus had several outlaying factories, which he visited from time to time, to superintend the manufacture of his indigo; at all of these he had little bungalows, or temporary abodes, where we tiffed and passed the heat of the...1841 September–December, Captain [Henry Walter?] Bellew, “Memoirs of a Griffin. Chapter XIV.”, in The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australasia...

   Synonyms:

   tiffin

Verb (3)

tiff (third-person singular simple present tiffs, present participle tiffing, simple past and past participle tiffed)

1. (archaic, informal, obsolete, slang, transitive) To drink (liquor), especially slowly or in small amounts; to sip.
   • Nor did the Doctor fail to go / To the bright region of the Row; / There tiff'd his punch and talk'd and smok'd, / Was sometimes grave and sometimes jok'd; […]1821, [William Combe], “Canto XXXVII”, in The Third Tour of Doctor Syntax, in Search of a Wife, a Poem, London: R[udolph] Ackermann’s Repository of Arts, […], →OCLC, page 244

Verb (4)

tiff (third-person singular simple present tiffs, present participle tiffing, simple past and past participle tiffed)

1. (archaic, informal, obsolete, reflexive, slang, transitive) To deck out or dress (someone or oneself, or their body or hair).
   • Is the Miſs under a force vvhen ſhe culls among her trinkets vvith curious toil to tiff herſelf out in the most engaging manner, or teazes pappa for money to buy a nevv-faſhioned ſilk?1763, Edward Search [pseudonym; Abraham Tucker], “Freewill, Foreknowledge, and Fate. A Fragment.”, in [The Light of Nature Pursued], London: […] R[obert] and James Dodsley, […], →OCLC, §. 21, page 98
2. (archaic, informal, intransitive, obsolete, slang) To deck out or dress one's body or hair.
   • I never pin up my Hair vvith Proſe. I fancy ones Hair vvou'd not curl if it vvere pinn'd up vvith Proſe. […] Ay, poor Mincing tift and tift all the morning.1700, [William] Congreve, The Way of the World, a Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act II, pages 26–27

See all 13 meanings of tiff

Noun

tiffin (countable and uncountable, plural tiffins)

1. (India, UK) A (light) midday meal or snack; luncheon.
   • He took his tiffin from home and ate the food two hours later in school.
2. (India, UK) A box or container used to carry a tiffin.
   • "Young memsahib, an empty tiffin box costs ten rupees in the market. With the food, it's worth maybe fifteen rupees. Do you think I could retire after I steal it?" the man said. “I'm getting late. Do you want your husband to get his lunch or not? That last one's for him, isn't it?" He jerked his...2011, Mahtab Narsimhan, The Tiffin, Toronto, Ont.: Dancing Cat Books, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   tiffin carrier, dabba, tingkat

3. A cake-like confection composed of crushed biscuits, sugar, syrup, raisins, cherries and cocoa powder, often covered with a layer of melted chocolate.

See all 8 meanings of tiffin