tuft

Imagine a sheep's wool, not the whole fleece, but a single fluffy bundle of it. That is a tuft. It refers to a small bunch of things growing or held closely together, most commonly hair, feathers, grass, or wool. You might spot a tuft of cotton clinging to your sweater or a tuft of grass standing up by a fence.

A tuft is usually small. Think of it as a clear little clump rather than a large pile. In stories, writers often use it when they want you to see texture and shape: a child with a stubborn tuft of hair, a bird with soft tufts of down, or a patch of plants pushing through dry ground.

A tuft is a small cluster or bunch of soft or thin things close together. It is a natural word for hair, feathers, grass, wool, fur, or even threads and fibers. Think of the little patch of grass at the edge of a path, the bit of fur on a cat's ear, or the soft feathers gathered on a young bird. When someone writes about a tuft of silver hair falling across a forehead, the image is immediate: a small lock standing out from the rest.

The word usually suggests something small, textured, and a little uneven rather than smooth or flat. In everyday life, you might see a tuft of cotton on fabric, a tuft of moss on a damp rock, or a tuft of weeds pushing through a crack in the pavement. The idea is not just "a group," but a small part that stands out as its own bunch.

Historically, the word also had a more formal use. It could mean an ornamental bunch, such as a tassel or bunch of ribbons. At Oxford and Cambridge, titled students once wore gold tassels on their caps called tufts, and this led to the word "tuft-hunter" for someone eager to mix with people of high social rank.

Today, that old academic use is rare, but the main meaning is still common and vivid. Whether it is a patch of grass, a lock of hair, a bit of fur, or a small bunch of fibers, if it gathers in a compact little clump, it can be called a tuft.