gaff

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableinformalBritish

   A person's home; often used in informal British English.

   Grammar: Countable noun, usually singular: come to my gaff. It is informal and mainly British.

   Patterns

   • someone's gaff
   • come to someone's gaff
   • at someone's gaff

   Do you want to come back to my gaff for a coffee?

   We're having a party at Tom's gaff on Saturday.

   His new gaff is right in the middle of town.

2. 2nouncountabletechnical

   A long pole with a hook, used to pull large fish out of the water.

   Grammar: Countable noun: use a gaff to land the fish.

   Patterns

   • use a gaff
   • land a fish with a gaff

   The fisherman used a gaff to lift the heavy fish into the boat.

   He reached for the gaff as the fish came alongside.

   A gaff is a useful tool when you are landing big fish.

Word forms

Common combinations

someone's gaff

We watched the match at my mate's gaff.

come to my gaff

Come to my gaff after work and we'll order pizza.

use a gaff

You'll need to use a gaff to get that fish into the boat.

Synonyms and how they differ

place

A general informal word for home; 'gaff' is more specifically British and slightly more slangy.

pad

Informal, especially American, for someone's home; 'gaff' is the British equivalent.

Commonly confused: gaff or gaffe?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “gaff”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words