gaff

noun

1. an iron hook with a handle for landing large fish.
2. the spur on a climbing iron, especially as used by telephone linemen.
3. Nautical. a spar rising aft from a mast to support the head of a quadrilateral fore-and-aft sail (gaff sail).
4. a metal spur for a gamecock.

verb (used with object)

5. to hook or land (a fish) with a gaff.

noun

1. harsh treatment or criticism: All the gaff he took never made him bitter.

Idioms

2. stand/take the gaff, Slang. to weather hardship or strain; endure patiently.

verb (used with object)

1. Slang. to cheat; fleece.

verb (used without object)

2. British Slang. to gamble, especially to indulge in petty gambling, as to toss coins.

noun

1. angling a stiff pole with a stout prong or hook attached for landing large fish
2. nautical a boom hoisted aft of a mast to support a gaffsail
3. a metal spur fixed to the leg of a gamecock

verb (tr)

4. angling to hook or land (a fish) with a gaff
5. slang to cheat; hoax

noun

1. slang foolish talk; nonsense
2. blow the gaff British slang to divulge a secret
3. stand the gaff slang, mainly US and Canadian to endure ridicule, difficulties, etc

noun British slang, archaic

1. a person’s home, esp a flat
2. Also called: penny-gaff a cheap or low-class place of entertainment, esp a cheap theatre or music hall in Victorian England

n.1

“iron hook,” c.1300, gaffe, from Old French gaffe “boat hook” (see gaffe). Specifically of the hook on a fishing spear from 1650s.

n.2

“loud, rude talk,” 1825, from Scottish dialect, perhaps a survival of Old English gafspræc “blasphemous or ribald speech,” or from gaff (n.1), and cf. gaffe.

n.3

“cheap music hall or theater; place of amusement for the lowest classes,” 1850s, British slang, earlier “a fair” (1753), of unknown origin.

see stand the gaff.