fuzz en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /fʌz/
- fŭz
Etymology
Uncertain. Some dictionaries suggest a Germanic source; compare Low German fussig (“loose; spongy”), Dutch voos (“unsound; rotten”). Others, such as Webster's New College Dictionary, suggest a back-formation from fuzzy. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests, “Perhaps imitative of the action of blowing away light particles.”
Meanings
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(countable, uncountable) A frizzy mass of hair or fibre.
His cheeks were like peaches, with much the same sort of fuzz over them.
1895, Hamlin Garland, Rose of Dutcher's Coolly, page 352:Once the eaglets are born—tiny balls of white fuzz—the adult eagles prove that birds can be as protective and solicitous of their young as humans.
1962 July 14, Richard Petrow, “Last chance to save the Bald Eagle”, in Popular Science, volume 181, number 1, →ISSN, page 192:
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(countable, uncountable) Quality of an image that is unclear; a blurred image.
...scientific advances happen more often at the frontier of representation, at the edge of resolution where an image dissolves into fuzz and blur.
2010, Iain Boyd Whyte, Beyond the Finite: The Sublime in Art and Science, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
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(countable, uncountable) The random data used in fuzz testing.
"Fuzz testing" or "fuzzing" is a technique for software testing that provides random data ("fuzz") to the inputs of a program.
2008, Asoke Talukder, Manish Chaitanya, Architecting Secure Software Systems, Boca Raton: CRC Press, →ISBN, page 94:
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(countable, uncountable) A distorted sound, especially from an electric guitar or other amplified instrument.
This gives a good soft clipping effect and a good fuzz sound.
1994, R.A. Penfold, Music Projects, Boston: New Tech, →ISBN, page 33:
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(countable, uncountable) A state of befuddlement.
So I'm in a fuzz of not knowing what to do
2016 February 10, Ally, “Signs of an Online Dating Scam”, in Christie Hartman Ph.D., archived from the original on 26 Oct 2016, Comments:I think I'm in a fuzz, and don't know what I ſay, I never ſaw the like.
1784, Jonathan Swift, “Journal to Stella”, in The works of the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Swift, page 54:
- (countable, uncountable) Fuzziness, vagueness.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| fuzzes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
peachfuzz · fuzzless · fuzz test · fuzzword · fuzzy · fuzznut · fuzztone · fuzzify · fuzztail · fuzzer · fuzzball · fuzzlike · fuzzification · fuzzbox · peach fuzz · fuzznuts · fuzz box
Translations (11)
ko 보풀 (frizzy mass) · ru пух (frizzy mass) · fi nukka (frizzy mass) · es pelusa (frizzy mass) · es vello (frizzy mass) · bg пух (frizzy mass) · fr duvet (frizzy mass) · eo lanugo (frizzy mass) · haw heu (frizzy mass) · bg мъх (frizzy mass) · mi kerehunga (frizzy mass)