noun
- the fine, soft, thick, hairy coat of the skin of a mammal.
- the skin of certain animals, as the sable, ermine, or beaver, covered with such a coat, used for lining, trimming, or making garments.
- a garment made of fur.
- any coating resembling or suggesting fur, as certain matter on the tongue.
- Heraldry. any conventional representation of a fur, as ermine, vair, potent, or their variations.
adjective
- of or relating to fur, animal skins, dressed pelts, etc.: a fur coat; a fur trader.
verb (used with object), furred, fur·ring.
- to line, face, or trim, with fur, as a garment.
- Building Trades. to apply furring to (a wall, ceiling, etc.).
- to clothe (a person) with fur.
- to coat with foul or deposited matter.
Idioms
- make the fur fly,
- to cause a scene or disturbance, especially of a violent nature; make trouble: When the kids got mad they really made the fur fly.
- to do things quickly: She always makes the fur fly when she types.
noun
- the dense coat of fine silky hairs on such mammals as the cat, seal, and mink
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- the dressed skin of certain fur-bearing animals, with the hair left on
- (as modifier)a fur coat
- a garment made of fur, such as a coat or stole
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- a pile fabric made in imitation of animal fur
- a garment made from such a fabric
- heraldry any of various stylized representations of animal pelts or their tinctures, esp ermine or vair, used in coats of arms
- informal a whitish coating of cellular debris on the tongue, caused by excessive smoking, an upset stomach, etc
- British a whitish-grey deposit consisting chiefly of calcium carbonate precipitated from hard water onto the insides of pipes, boilers, and kettles
- make the fur fly to cause a scene or disturbance
verb furs, furring or furred
- (tr) to line or trim a garment, etc, with fur
- (often foll by up) to cover or become covered with a furlike lining or deposit
- (tr) to clothe (a person) in a fur garment or garments
n.late 14c. “trimming or lining of a garment” (implied c.1300 in surname Furhode “fur hood”), probably from Old French fourrer “to line, sheathe,” from fuerre “sheath, covering,” from Frankish *fodr or another Germanic source (cf. Old Frisian foder “coat lining,” Old High German fotar “a lining,” German Futter, Gothic fodr “sword sheath”), from Proto-Germanic *fodram “sheath.” Sense transferred in English from the notion of a lining to the thing used in it. First applied early 15c. to animal hair still on the animal. I’le make the fur Flie ’bout the eares of the old Cur. [Butler, “Hudibras,” 1663] As a verb, from c.1300, from Old French fourrer. Related: Furred; furring. see make the dust (fur) fly.