goffer

goffer [gof-er] ExamplesWord Origin noun

1. an ornamental plaiting used for frills and borders, as on women’s caps.

verb (used with object)

2. to flute (a frill, ruffle, etc.), as with a heated iron.

Also gauf·fer [gaw-fer, gof-er] /ˈgɔ fər, ˈgɒf ər/. Origin of goffer 1700–10; French gaufre waffle Middle Dutch wāfel waffle1 Examples from the Web for goffer Historical Examples of goffer

Hence our verb to goffer, to give a cellular appearance to a frill.

The Romance of Words (4th ed.)

Ernest Weekley

Dr. Fellowes had the kindness to give me a goffer (a large field-mouse), undoubtedly Diplostoma bulbivorum.

Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834, Part III (the Text Being Chapters XXVIII-XXXIII of the London Edition, 1843, and the Appendix a Combination of the Appendices of the London and German [Coblentz, 1839] Editions)

Maximilian, Prinz von Wied

A new mortification for poor Cinderella, for it was she who had to iron her sisters’ fine linen, and goffer their ruffles.

Tales of Passed Times

Charles Perrault

British Dictionary definitions for goffer goffer gauffer verb (tr)

1. to press pleats into (a frill)
2. to decorate (the gilt edges of a book) with a repeating pattern

noun

3. an ornamental frill made by pressing pleats
4. the decoration formed by goffering books
5. the iron or tool used in making goffers

Word Origin for goffer C18: from French gaufrer to impress a pattern, from gaufre, from Middle Low German wāfel; see waffle 1, wafer