(a.) Having a broad, flattened front; as, the bluff bows of a ship.
(a.) Rising steeply with a flat or rounded front.
(a.) Surly; churlish; gruff; rough.
(a.) Abrupt; roughly frank; unceremonious; blunt; brusque; as, a bluff answer; a bluff manner of talking; a bluff sea captain.
(n.) A high, steep bank, as by a river or the sea, or beside a ravine or plain; a cliff with a broad face.
(n.) An act of bluffing; an expression of self-confidence for the purpose of intimidation; braggadocio; as, that is only bluff, or a bluff.
(n.) A game at cards; poker.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. i.) To act as in the game of bluff.
Example Sentences:
(1) I want to follow the west bank of the river south for some 100 miles to a bluff overlooking the river, where Sitting Bull is buried – and then, in the evening, to return to Bismarck.
(2) Despite huge uncertainties over their ability to pay for carbon capture and storage technology, [Peel subsidiary] Ayrshire Power has decided to go ahead with these plans and call Labour's bluff.
(3) Suppose western leaders called Russia’s bluff and insisted on a no-fly zone over Aleppo and a safe haven in northern Syria for refugees.
(4) Salmond accused the Westminster parties of a combination of bullying and bluff.
(5) On August 2, 1991, a neurologist in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) in central Arkansas notified the Arkansas Department of Health of two patients hospitalized with St. Louis encephalitis (SLE).
(6) The impending publication of the putative nude pictures, a humiliation that turned out to be a bluff, might have pulled Watson down among the lower orders of former child stars, those people who now exist in the public consciousness merely as cautionary tales to scare naughty teenagers: “Look what happened to Bieber today!”; “Did you see Cyrus in that outfit?” Although Watson has put her head above the parapet before, the provocation cited by the hoaxers was the New York speech she gave last Monday promoting the HeForShe campaign and arguing that gender discrimination harms both men and women.
(7) This bombshell will weaken supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Ahmadinejad, chief negotiator Saeed Jalili, and the rest of Tehran's hardliner crew abroad and at home although, as usual, they will try to bluff their way through.
(8) Peggy was – I think (please correct me if not) – watching NBC’s Coogan’s Bluff knock-off McCloud which began in early 1970.
(9) Cameron added that recent warnings from banks such as Lloyds and RBS, and from firms such as BP and Shell proved that the economic and financial risks of independence were not bluff and bluster or bullying.
(10) A steady rise in the yes vote in recent opinion polls also established that voters did not buy "the bluff and bluster" of those opposed to independence.
(11) These places had their bluff called by the Occupy movement.
(12) The Zappa statue was audaciously suggested by local artists in 1992, as a slightly flippant test of their country's newfound democratic freedoms; to their surprise, the authorities called their bluff.
(13) Most of the sites are of the Bluff phase of Late Woodland in the lower Illinois River valley; others are from a nearby, contemporary archaeological phase.
(14) TV election debates: broadcasters call David Cameron's bluff Read more “They’ve chopped and changed formats, blinked under pressure, refused to consult constructively and now are absurdly threatening not to have the prime minister present.
(15) At that point the ECB’s hand may be looking quite poor – if the market doesn’t call their bluff first.
(16) Amid claims in the markets that politicians in Athens were playing a dangerous game of bluff, a potential schism in the monetary union saw borrowing costs for Spain and Italy rise over fears that contagion could spread from Greece through southern Europe.
(17) With the crisis and the payments protection insurance scandals combining to leave the financial services sector mistrusted as never before, there has never been a more opportune moment for calling the industry's bluff.
(18) This time, however, Scotland is calling the cardinal's bluff.
(19) Coren was author of more than 20 satirical books, a familiar face on television from the 1970s onwards - he was team captain on Call my Bluff - and a regular on Radio 4's News Quiz from 1975.
(20) During a career spanning three decades, she has been a regular on shows such as Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Call My Bluff, and QI, as well as fronting the travel programme Excess Baggage.
Cliff
Definition:
(n.) A high, steep rock; a precipice.
(n.) See Clef.
Example Sentences:
(1) Cliff's choice of opening a cappella number for the centre court crowds was inspired: Summer Holiday.
(2) Tiny, tiny... rodents – some soft and grey, some brown with black stripes, in paintings, posters, wallcharts, thumb-tacked magazine clippings and poorly executed crayon drawings, hurling themselves fatally in their thousands over the cliff of their island home; or crudely taxidermied and mounted, eyes glazed and little paws frozen stiff – on every available surface.
(3) • earthseasky.org North Zakynthos Potamitis Brothers, North Zakynthos Where to stay: Potamitis Brothers The brothers run boat trips (see below), but also own some rather special accommodation perched on the cliffs of Cape Skinari on the northern tip of Zakynthos.
(4) Politically speaking, that could generate some powerful questions, as families on the cliff-edge begin to digest politicians' rhetoric about hardworking families and ask themselves: "How did we get here?"
(5) The New South Wales and South Australian premiers have joined forces to tell treasurer Scott Morrison that finding extra federal funding to head off a looming hospitals and schools funding “cliff” is a “non negotiable” condition of their support for increasing the GST.
(6) Yes, at the 2010 Conservative conference the party announced a similar cliff-edge at the higher rate tax threshold as a way of effectively means-testing child benefit payments, but that was eventually removed and replaced with a less egregious taper at the 2012 budget.
(7) This may go some way to explaining why, even as his approval ratings fall off a cliff and some call for his impeachment, he sees no reason to course-correct, as he and a noisy caucus around him seem to become ever more self-righteous.
(8) So, if the Fed is afraid that the fiscal cliff may cause a disruption so big that even the Fed's all-encompassing embrace of the markets can't fix it, then it's Chairman Bernanke's word – and not that of Congress – that carries the most weight.
(9) A search and rescue operation was immediately undertaken however the escapee’s body was later discovered by search and rescue teams on Sunday at the bottom of island cliffs away from the centre.
(10) I think, in all honestly, if I could be Bradley Whitford I would be very, very happy.” He becomes almost drawlingly dreamy, rolling his “r”s as he leans against the warm oolite cliffs of this Jurassic Coast, until rudely interrupted by me, asking whether there’s talk of a Broadchurch 3 .
(11) Updated at 11.27am BST 11.18am BST Another reminder that the debt ceiling is looming: James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) Washington fell off the government shutdown cliff ... and there is not another cliff to break its fall until Oct. 17 - Wash. Research Group October 1, 2013 11.16am BST How much will the shutdown cost?
(12) In the pre-budget report, Darling announced £20bn in tax cuts and increased spending, in an attempt to stop the UK economy falling off a cliff.
(13) Migration from other EU countries has not fallen off a cliff despite the result of last summer’s referendum: according to the Office for National Statistics, the number of non-UK nationals from the EU working in the UK rose by 171,000 to 2.32 million between the first quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017.
(14) During the global financial crisis and recession, when demand fell off a cliff, Australia activated stimulus measures to support consumption and to invest in infrastructure to support jobs and growth.
(15) Using Koufonissi as a base, there are daily excursions by caique and ferry to nearby islands, including Iraklia, where walkers can follow a pilgrims' trail across the high lands to spectacular St John's Cave, carved into a limestone cliff.
(16) A group of economists told the Wall Street Journal that is exactly what is happening : They blame our lackluster recovery this year on a pullback in spending and investment by US companies, which are afraid that the fallout from a fiscal cliff could compromise their ability to find funding or function normally.
(17) I eventually had to assume the role of boss because if you decide to slide away from the steering wheel, the car could go off the cliff.” We both know what he’s talking about.
(18) "We would like to see the United States lower the level of uncertainty by embracing more specifically the need to avoid the fiscal cliff and deal with the medium-term problems," said Lipton, a former economic adviser to President Barack Obama.
(19) What he says “You just find a cliff and jump off, and you keep doing it, and if it works on a small cliff, then you move on to a higher one, and a higher one, and then finally you get to a big audience and you go, ‘Fine, OK, I’m happy with this material’.
(20) Brees is sacked by Cliff Avril on third-and-nine, taking his team out of field goal range, and instead Thomas Morstead comes back out to punt.