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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

woof.

The set of yarns carried by the shuttle of a loom which are placed crosswise at right angles to and interlaced with the warp; the weft.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/wuːf/Received-Pronunciation/wʊf/General-American/wuf/General-American
  1. The set of yarns carried by the shuttle of a loom which are placed crosswise at right angles to and interlaced with the warp; the weft.

  2. A woven fabric; also, the texture of a fabric.

    broadly
  3. The thread or yarn used to form the weft of woven fabric; the fill, the weft.

    broadly · poetic
  4. Synonym of weaving (“the process of making woven material on a loom”).

    obsolete · rare
  5. Something which is interwoven with another thing.

    figuratively
  6. An underlying foundation or structure of something; a fabric.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English wof, oof, owf (“threads in a piece of woven fabric at right angles to the warp, weft, woof; also sometimes the warp; transverse filaments of a spider web”) [and other forms] (the forms beginning with w were influenced by warp and weft), from Old English ōwef, āwef, from ō-, ā- (prefix meaning ‘away; from; off; out’) + *wef (“web”) (only attested in the form gewef (“woof”); from wefan (“to weave”), from Proto-West Germanic *weban (“to weave”), from Proto-Germanic *webaną (“to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid; to weave”)). The verb is derived from the noun.

verb/wuːf/Received-Pronunciation/wʊf/General-American/wuf/General-American
  1. To place (yarns) crosswise at right angles to and interlaced with the warp in a loom.

    rare · transitive
  2. To interweave (something) with another thing; to weave (several things) together.

    figuratively · rare · transitive
Where this word comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English wof, oof, owf (“threads in a piece of woven fabric at right angles to the warp, weft, woof; also sometimes the warp; transverse filaments of a spider web”) [and other forms] (the forms beginning with w were influenced by warp and weft), from Old English ōwef, āwef, from ō-, ā- (prefix meaning ‘away; from; off; out’) + *wef (“web”) (only attested in the form gewef (“woof”); from wefan (“to weave”), from Proto-West Germanic *weban (“to weave”), from Proto-Germanic *webaną (“to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid; to weave”)). The verb is derived from the noun.

intj/wʊf/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. Used to indicate the sound of a dog barking, or something resembling it.

    rare · transitive
  2. Used to express strong physical attraction for someone.

    humorous · rare · transitive
Where this word comes from

The interjection and noun are onomatopoeic. Interjection etymology 2, interjection sense 2 (“used to express strong physical attraction for someone”) probably alludes to the eager barking of a dog. The verb is probably derived from the interjection and the noun. Verb etymology 2, verb sense 1.2 (“to eat (food) voraciously”) may be influenced by or, alternatively, derived from wolf (“to eat (food) voraciously, devour, gobble”).

noun/wʊf/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. The sound a dog makes when barking; a bark.

    rare · transitive
  2. A sound resembling a dog's bark.

    broadly · rare · transitive
  3. A sound resembling a dog's bark. A low-frequency sound of bad quality produced by a loudspeaker.

    broadly · rare · transitive
Where this word comes from

The interjection and noun are onomatopoeic. Interjection etymology 2, interjection sense 2 (“used to express strong physical attraction for someone”) probably alludes to the eager barking of a dog. The verb is probably derived from the interjection and the noun. Verb etymology 2, verb sense 1.2 (“to eat (food) voraciously”) may be influenced by or, alternatively, derived from wolf (“to eat (food) voraciously, devour, gobble”).

verb/wʊf/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. To say (something) in an aggressive or boastful manner.

    figuratively · rare · transitive
  2. To eat (food) voraciously; to devour, to gobble, to wolf.

    informal · rare · transitive
  3. Of a dog: to bark.

    intransitive · rare · transitive
  4. Of a person or thing: to make a sound resembling a dog's bark.

    intransitive · rare · transitive
  5. To speak in an aggressive or boastful manner.

    figuratively · intransitive · rare · transitive
Where this word comes from

The interjection and noun are onomatopoeic. Interjection etymology 2, interjection sense 2 (“used to express strong physical attraction for someone”) probably alludes to the eager barking of a dog. The verb is probably derived from the interjection and the noun. Verb etymology 2, verb sense 1.2 (“to eat (food) voraciously”) may be influenced by or, alternatively, derived from wolf (“to eat (food) voraciously, devour, gobble”).

intj/ʰᵿʰ/General-American
  1. Oof.

    rare · transitive
  2. Phew.

    rare · transitive
Where this word comes from

Onomatopoeic.

verb
  1. Alternative form of wwoof.

    alt-of · alternative · intransitive · rare · transitive
Where this word comes from

From WWOOF, an acronym of World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms which is a network of national organizations that facilitate homestays on organic farms.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.