Crossword clues for bluff
bluff
- Poker ploy
- It may be called in poker
- Putting all the poker chips in the pot, maybe
- A high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)
- Pretense that your position is stronger than it really is
- Poker raise, at times
- Pretense
- Cliff's affable deception
- Outspoken and hearty
- Weep endlessly and very loudly in pretence
- Frank lover describes bit of lovemaking
- Liberal taken in by Polish subterfuge
- Pretend to be fit around fifty
- Deliberate deception
- Poker play
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
Having a broad, flattened front; as, the bluff bows of a ship. ``Bluff visages.''
--Irving.-
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. Surly; churlish; gruff; rough.
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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\, v. i. To act as in the game of bluff.
Bluff \Bluff\, n.
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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. An act of bluffing; an expression of self-confidence for the purpose of intimidation; braggadocio; as, that is only bluff, or a bluff.
A game at cards; poker. [U.S.]
--Bartlett.
Bluff \Bluff\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bluffed; p. pr. & vb. n. Bluffing.]
(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.]
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
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.
"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.
1844 as an alternative name for poker; from bluff (v.). As "an act of bluffing" by 1864.
Wiktionary
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 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
n. a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)
pretense that your position is stronger than it really is; "his bluff succeeded in getting him accepted"
the act of bluffing in poker; deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards [syn: four flush]
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]
frighten someone by pretending to be stronger than one really is
Gazetteer
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
Wikipedia
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 may refer to:
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 is a 2007 Canadian comedy film. It was directed, written and produced by Simon Olivier Fecteau and Marc-André Lavoie.
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.