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Definition of scoff verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

scoff

verb
 
/skɒf/
 
/skɑːf/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they scoff
 
/skɒf/
 
/skɑːf/
he / she / it scoffs
 
/skɒfs/
 
/skɑːfs/
past simple scoffed
 
/skɒft/
 
/skɑːft/
past participle scoffed
 
/skɒft/
 
/skɑːft/
-ing form scoffing
 
/ˈskɒfɪŋ/
 
/ˈskɑːfɪŋ/
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  1. [intransitive, transitive] to talk about somebody/something in a way that makes it clear that you think they are stupid or silly synonym mock
    • Don't scoff—she's absolutely right.
    • scoff at somebody/something He scoffed at our amateurish attempts.
    • + speech ‘Don't be ridiculous,’ she scoffed.
  2. (British English)
    (North American English scarf)
    [transitive] scoff something (informal) to eat a lot of something quickly
    • Who scoffed all the grapes?
    Topics Feelingsc2
  3. Word Originsense 1 Middle English (first used as a noun in the sense ‘mockery, scorn’): perhaps of Scandinavian origin.sense 2 late 18th cent. (as a verb): originally a variant of Scots and dialect scaff. The noun is from Afrikaans schoff, representing Dutch schoft ‘quarter of a day’, (by extension) ‘meal’.
See scoff in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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