Scarfs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. To devour food with great eagerness and speed while also describing the act of encasing or shielding an object, often with a heavy layer, as well as representing a type of lengthy and decorative textile accessory worn for warmth or style
2. To hastily eat a meal with enthusiasm, as well as to envelop or protect something robustly, in addition to identifying a decorative garment typically fashioned from fabric and worn around the neck or head
3. Consume food rapidly and with eagerness ; to wrap or shield something firmly ; a piece of cloth worn to provide warmth or as decoration around the neck or head

Etymology: "Scarfs" is the plural of "scarf" as a noun, so the history belongs to the garment sense. The garment name is probably from Old Northern French "escarpe," a word for a pilgrim's purse hung from the neck, and the same French root gave English "scrip," a doublet of it. The garment and the purse shared a cord-and-hanging-from-the-neck idea, which explains how a bag became a wrap. The verb senses, to eat hastily or to wrap something snugly, have a separate and more surprising route. The eating sense is generally thought to be a variant of "scoff," meaning to eat quickly, which is itself a variant of "scaff." This verb is attested only from the 1950s, so the food sense is far newer than the garment. Some suggest it may instead be a dialect survival of Old English "sceorfan," meaning to gnaw or bite, but that link is less widely accepted.

Synonyms: wraps, shawls