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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
bluff
I.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
double bluff
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
way
▪ They will have to fight or bluff their way through.
▪ Jody keeps Sally in for twenty-three minutes, watching her pick up the offensive plays and bluff her way through the defense.
▪ He'd tried to bluff and bully his way out of his terrible mistake, but Volkov wouldn't be intimidated.
▪ It must be important for her to have driven all the way up north and bluff her way into his house.
▪ But then most of us could probably bluff our way into a second division club with a bit of nous.
▪ If she looked as though she knew what she was doing, she might just be able to bluff her way through.
▪ Now her plan to bluff her way through had been reduced to a pitiful shambles.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ They're not bluffing when they say this could start a civil war.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But Amanda knew him well enough to suspect that he might be bluffing.
▪ If he bids high, is he bluffing, or does he actually hold a strong hand?
▪ Remember the hands you were dealt, the full-house of love, the ace-high you bluffed on.
▪ The complexity arises when all players know how to bluff and double-bluff.
▪ The prospect of scaring off awkward media revelations will always provide a great temptation for Attorneys to bluff.
▪ This would be a pity if the Attorney were bluffing.
II.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
double
▪ And assuming, of course, the call wasn't a double bluff.
■ VERB
call
▪ Lord Hill called his bluff by threatening to make public the reason why the programme could not be shown.
▪ I said, calling his bluff.
▪ When some one calls your bluff, you best ignore him.
▪ Should I call his bluff and place the ball exactly where he was pointing?
▪ When the drugs companies insisted on time to prepare a response, Judge Bernard Ngoepe called their bluff.
▪ But you daren't take the risk of trying it on in case I was calling your bluff and would refuse you.
▪ Dare they call her bluff and just let her get on with whatever she thought she could do to inconvenience them?
▪ The students had called the authorities' bluff with their protests and shown solidarity across the country.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Johnson said the threats were pure bluff.
▪ Working as a trader makes me sensitive to the little bluffs people use.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Culley had climbed a small bluff and crouched down on his heels to clear the skyline.
▪ Dove slid down the rope, his feet skipping over the craggy face of the bluff toward the boy.
▪ From the interstate highway which runs nearby, nothing about this bluff looks any different from thousands of others.
▪ His bluff, finally, had been called.
▪ Most stayed, under the shadowy evergreens, among the tall sycamores and beeches on the bluff above the water.
▪ The trick is to live long enough to put your young bluffs to use.
▪ This was a game of bluffs and double bluffs.
▪ When some one calls your bluff, you best ignore him.
III.adjective
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a big, bluff man with a nice smile
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bluff

Bluff \Bluff\, a. [Cf. OD. blaf flat, broad, blaffaert one with a broad face, also, a boaster; or G. verbl["u]ffen to confuse, LG. bluffen to frighten; to unknown origin.]

  1. Having a broad, flattened front; as, the bluff bows of a ship. ``Bluff visages.''
    --Irving.

  2. Rising steeply with a flat or rounded front. ``A bluff or bold shore.''
    --Falconer.

    Its banks, if not really steep, had a bluff and precipitous aspect.
    --Judd.

  3. Surly; churlish; gruff; rough.

  4. Abrupt; roughly frank; unceremonious; blunt; brusque; as, a bluff answer; a bluff manner of talking; a bluff sea captain. ``Bluff King Hal.''
    --Sir W. Scott.

    There is indeed a bluff pertinacity which is a proper defense in a moment of surprise.
    --I. Taylor.

Bluff

Bluff \Bluff\, v. i. To act as in the game of bluff.

Bluff

Bluff \Bluff\, n.

  1. A high, steep bank, as by a river or the sea, or beside a ravine or plain; a cliff with a broad face.

    Beach, bluff, and wave, adieu.
    --Whittier.

  2. An act of bluffing; an expression of self-confidence for the purpose of intimidation; braggadocio; as, that is only bluff, or a bluff.

  3. A game at cards; poker. [U.S.]
    --Bartlett.

Bluff

Bluff \Bluff\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bluffed; p. pr. & vb. n. Bluffing.]

  1. (Poker) To deter (an opponent) from taking the risk of betting on his hand of cards, as the bluffer does by betting heavily on his own hand although it may be of less value. [U. S.]

  2. To frighten or deter from accomplishing a purpose by making a show of confidence in one's strength or resources; as, he bluffed me off. [Colloq.]

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
bluff

1839, American English, poker term, perhaps from Dutch bluffen "to brag, boast," or verbluffen "to baffle, mislead." An identical word meant "blindfold, hoodwink" in 1670s, but the sense evolution and connection are unclear; OED calls it "one of the numerous cant terms ... which arose between the Restoration and the reign of Queen Anne." Extended or figurative sense by 1854. Related: Bluffed; bluffing.

bluff

"broad, vertical cliff," 1680s, from bluff (adj.) "with a broad, flat front" (1620s), a sailors' word, probably from Dutch blaf "flat, broad." Apparently a North Sea nautical term for ships with flat vertical bows, later extended to landscape features.

bluff

1844 as an alternative name for poker; from bluff (v.). As "an act of bluffing" by 1864.

Wiktionary
bluff

Etymology 1 n. 1 An act of bluffing; a false expression of the strength of one's position in order to intimidate; braggadocio. 2 (context poker English) An attempt to represent oneself as holding a stronger hand than they actually do. 3 (context US dated English) The card game poker. vb. 1 ((context poker English) To make a '''bluff'''; to give the impression that one's hand is stronger than it is. 2 (''by analogy'') To frighten or deter with a false show of strength or confidence; to give a false impression of strength or temerity in order to intimidate and gain some advantage. Etymology 2

  1. 1 Having a broad, flattened front. 2 Rising steeply with a flat or rounded front. 3 Surly; churlish; gruff; rough. 4 Abrupt; roughly frank; unceremonious; blunt; brusque. n. 1 A high, steep bank, as by a river or the sea, or beside a ravine or plain; a cliff with a broad face. 2 (senseid en small wood) (context Canadian Prairies English) A small wood or stand of trees, typically poplar or willow.

WordNet
bluff
  1. adj. very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front; "a bluff headland"; "where the bold chalk cliffs of England rise"; "a sheer descent of rock" [syn: bold, sheer]

  2. bluntly direct and outspoken but good-natured; "a bluff but pleasant manner"; "a bluff and rugged natural leader"

bluff
  1. n. a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)

  2. pretense that your position is stronger than it really is; "his bluff succeeded in getting him accepted"

  3. the act of bluffing in poker; deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards [syn: four flush]

bluff
  1. v. deceive an opponent by a bold bet on an inferior hand with the result that the opponent withdraws a winning hand [syn: bluff out]

  2. frighten someone by pretending to be stronger than one really is

Gazetteer
Bluff, UT -- U.S. Census Designated Place in Utah
Population (2000): 320
Housing Units (2000): 191
Land area (2000): 22.096464 sq. miles (57.229577 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.554450 sq. miles (1.436019 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 22.650914 sq. miles (58.665596 sq. km)
FIPS code: 06700
Located within: Utah (UT), FIPS 49
Location: 37.283696 N, 109.552871 W
ZIP Codes (1990):
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Bluff, UT
Bluff
Wikipedia
Bluff (poker)

In the card game of poker, to bluff is to make a bet despite holding a hand which one does not expect to be the best hand. The objective of a bluff is to induce a fold by at least one opponent who holds a better hand. The size and frequency of a bluff determines its profitability to the bluffer. By extension, the phrase "calling somebody's bluff" is often used outside the context of poker to describe cases where one person "demand[s] that someone prove a claim" or prove that he or she "is not being deceptive."

Bluff

Bluff may refer to:

Bluff (magazine)

Bluff was an American magazine specializing in the game of poker. Separate editions were also published for Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Australasia. The American edition began as a bimonthly in October 2004 and went monthly in August 2005. Production of the magazine was ceased in February 2015.

In December 2006, Bluff Magazine purchased thepokerdb.com, an online tournament database. Churchill Downs purchased Bluff Media in February 2012.

The magazine annually named the "Poker Power 20," the 20 most important people in the poker industry.

Bluff (film)

Bluff is a 2007 Canadian comedy film. It was directed, written and produced by Simon Olivier Fecteau and Marc-André Lavoie.

Bluff (1924 film)

Bluff is a 1924 American drama silent film directed by Sam Wood and written by Willis Goldbeck, Josephine Quirk and Rita Weiman. The film stars Agnes Ayres, Antonio Moreno, Fred J. Butler, Clarence Burton, Pauline Paquette and Jack Gardner. The film was released on May 12, 1924, by Paramount Pictures.

Usage examples of "bluff".

Not only was it exceptionally lofty, and on one flank of that series of bluffs which has before been mentioned as constituting the line upon which the Confederate grip of the stream was based, but the tortuous character of the channel gave particular facilities for an enfilading fire on vessels both before and after they came abreast the works.

Memphis had pursued its winding course through an alluvial country, made when abreast of Vicksburg a sharp turn to the northeast, as though determined to reach the bluffs but four miles distant.

South of the river the land is low, but from the depth of the channel forms a line of bluffs, affording good shelter to troops after crossing to assail a force beyond.

On the opposite side of a narrow valley, through which runs Beaver Dam Creek, rises a bold, almost precipitous, bluff, and the road which the Confederates were compelled to take bends abruptly to the right when near the stream, thus exposing the flank of the assaulting party to a fire from the bluff.

Wellington, and the bluff old Prussian, Blucher, met him at Waterloo, defeated his armies and drove him from the field.

Many argued that he was only bluffing or, at worst, intending to seize two disputed islands and the southern half of the ar-Rumaylah oilfield, which straddled the Iraq-Kuwait border.

The moderate Arabs, who claimed to understand Saddam as only brother Arabs could, reinforced this stance by advising the United States that Saddam was just bluffing, urged the administration to steer clear of the dispute and let them handle it.

Iraq was not bluffing and had the capability to overrun all of Kuwait was finally being sent out to the highest levels of the government.

In 1994, faced with hyperinflation and mounting threats to his regime, Saddam took the inexplicable step of threatening another invasion of Kuwait--and the best evidence we have, from Hussein Kamel, was that Saddam was not bluffing but genuinely intended to attack.

Whether Goering was bluffing or not, the police commander apparently believed he was not and let the column file over the bridge unmolested.

Now, at last, the Chief of the General Staff had his desired, unequivocal proof that Hitler was not bluffing, that he wanted war.

I replied that I was fully aware of the fact and that we were not bluffing either.

Rodeo in Bluff Springs, drew back against the corral, his keen gray eyes on the girl who was passing with Bill Bly, the rodeo star.

They were closer to Red Bluff than Redding, putting down finally on the edges of what the map showed as the Yolla Bolly Middle Eel Wilderness.

The land had been hideously buckled by some ancient calamity, raised into rocky bluffs and windswept ridges, and sunk deep into dry riverbeds, canyons and things deeper than canyons.