TURF

turf

(noun) range of jurisdiction or influence; “a bureaucracy...chiefly concerned with turf...and protecting the retirement system”

turf

(noun) the territory claimed by a juvenile gang as its own

turf, sod, sward, greensward

(noun) surface layer of ground containing a mat of grass and grass roots

turf

(verb) cover (the ground) with a surface layer of grass or grass roots

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

turf (countable and uncountable, plural turfs or turves)

(uncountable) A layer of earth covered with grass; sod.

(countable) A piece of such a layer cut from the soil. May be used as sod to make a lawn, dried for peat, stacked to form earthen structures, etc.

(countable, Ireland) A sod of peat used as fuel.

(uncountable, slang) The territory claimed by a person, gang, etc. as their own.

(uncountable, with "the") A racetrack; or the sport of racing horses.

Verb

turf (third-person singular simple present turfs, present participle turfing, simple past and past participle turfed)

To cover with turf; to create a lawn by laying turfs.

(Ultimate Frisbee) To throw a frisbee well short of its intended target, usually causing it to hit the ground within 10 yards of its release.

(business) To fire from a job or dismiss from a task.

(business) To cancel a project or product.

(informal, transitive) To expel, eject, or throw out; to turf out.

(medical slang, transitive) To transfer or attempt to transfer (a patient or case); to eschew or avoid responsibility for.

Anagrams

• ruft

Source: Wiktionary

Turf (tûrf), n.; pl. Turfs, Obs. Turves. Etym: [AS. turf; akin to D. turf peat, G. torf, OHG. zurba turf, Sw. & Icel. torf turf, peat, Dan. törv, Skr. darbha a kind of grass, a tuft of grass. sq. root242.]

1. That upper stratum of earth and vegetable mold which is filled with the roots of grass and other small plants, so as to adhere and form a kind of mat; sward; sod. At his head a grass-green turf. Shak. The Greek historian sets her in the field on a high heap of turves. Milton.

2. Peat, especially when prepared for fuel. See Peat.

3. Race course; horse racing; -- preceded by the. "We . . . claim the honors of the turf." Cowper.

Note: Turf is often used adjectively, or to form compounds which are generally self-explaining; as, turf ashes, turf cutter or turf- cutter, turf pit or turf-pit, turf-built, turf-clad, turf-covered, etc. Turf ant (Zoöl.), a small European ant (Formica flava) which makes small ant-hills on heaths and commons.

– Turf drain, a drain made with turf or peat.

– Turf hedge, a hedge or fence formed with turf and plants of different kinds.

– Turf house, a house or shed formed of turf, common in the northern parts of Europe.

– Turf moss a tract of turfy, mossy, or boggy land.

– Turf spade, a spade for cutting and digging turf, longer and narrower than the common spade.

Turf, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Turfed; p. pr. & vb. n. Turfing.]

Definition: To cover with turf or sod; as, to turf a bank, of the border of a terrace. A. Tucker.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition