Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A fit of irritation.
  • noun A petty quarrel.
  • intransitive verb To quarrel.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A local name for the calcite occurring with the zinc and lead deposits of Joplin, Missouri.
  • To dress; deck; array.
  • noun Set; attitude.
  • To sip; drink.
  • To lunch.
  • To be in a pet; be peevish or quarrelsome.
  • noun A draught of liquor; a “drop”: as, a tiff of brandy.
  • noun Thin or small beer.
  • noun A petty quarrel or misunderstanding; a slight pet, or fit of peevishness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Liquor; especially, a small draught of liquor.
  • noun A fit of anger or peevishness; a slight altercation or contention. See Tift.
  • intransitive verb To be in a pet.
  • transitive verb obsolete To deck out; to dress.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A small argument; a petty quarrel.
  • verb intransitive To quarrel.
  • verb obsolete, transitive To deck out; to dress.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a quarrel about petty points

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English tiffen, Old French tiffer, tifer, to bedizen; compare D. tippen to clip the points or ends of the hair, English tip (noun).

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Examples

  • The word tiff in connection with her tale had a peculiar savour, a paralysing effect.

    Chance Joseph Conrad 1890

  • The word tiff in connection with her tale had a peculiar savour, a paralysing effect.

    Chance A Tale in Two Parts Joseph Conrad 1890

  • She called the tiff between Steele and Rush Limbaugh a "Republican Horror Show."

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • She called the tiff between Steele and Rush Limbaugh a "Republican Horror Show."

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • She called the tiff between Steele and Rush Limbaugh a "Republican Horror Show."

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • She called the tiff between Steele and Rush Limbaugh a "Republican Horror Show."

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • "We won't reveal our weapon as of now, but Sonny Boy is ready to rumble," said Aljoe Jaro, whose other protege, North American Boxing Federation (NABF) super bantamweight champion Bernabe Concepcion (26-1, 15 KOs), will also fight Giovannie Caro (11-4, 9 KOs, 2 draws) on the same day in a 10-round non-title tiff in San Diego, California.

    PhilBoxing.com - XML News RSS/RDF Feed 2008

  • I mean, you know, we thought maybe they'd been involved in some kind of scuffle, maybe that kind of thing that some people would relatively refer to as a tiff or something.

    CNN Transcript Mar 5, 2009 2009

  • On to the Hillary-Obama Iraq tiff, which is a lot of noise about nothing:

    Hillary and Obama on Iraq Decoded - Swampland - TIME.com 2007

  • The tiff was the subject of a viewer call in poll and somthing like 70 percent of viewers who responded felt Betty was "spot on" on her comments to Marcel.

    Was Top Chef Episode Three "Craveable?" FJK 2006

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