effing

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eff off

1. rude slang Go away. ("Eff" in these headwords is the phonetic spelling of the letter F, representing the word "fuck.") Eff off, will you? I don't want to hear any more of your crap. A: "Tom wants to ask you some more questions about the project." B: "Tell him to eff off, would you? I'm busy."

2. rude slang To engage in aimless recreation or frivolous time-wasting. You'd be done with your homework by now if you didn't spend so much time effing off on that phone of yours.

eff up

1. verb, rude slang To make a mistake; to mess up. ("Eff" is a shortening of the vulgar word "fuck.") I think I effed up by putting the casserole in the oven too soon. You effed up, Dave. Just admit it, and we can all move on.

2. verb, rude slang To cause someone to make a mistake; to screw someone up. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "eff" and "up." I was trying to build a house of cards when the sudden sound of a car alarm effed me up.

3. verb, rude slang To ruin or damage something; to mess up something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "eff" and "up." The pilots' strike really effed up our vacation plans! Boy, you really effed this engine up. When was the last time you got your oil changed? I effed up my knee in practice last night so I won't be able to play on Saturday.

4. verb, rude slang To cause someone significant injury by physically attacking them, as with punches and other blows. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "eff" and "up." The captain of the football team said he'd eff me up if he caught me talking to his girlfriend again.

5. verb, rude slang To intoxicate someone to an extreme degree. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "eff" and "up." The painkillers the doctor prescribed really effed me up last night. They want to get effed up on weed and watch cheesy horror movies.

6. verb, rude slang To fail or malfunction. The printer effed up last night so I still haven't printed my report.

7. noun, rude slang A person who is a complete failure or rarely does anything right. In this usage, the phrase is often hyphenated. I admit that after college I was kind of an eff-up. I finally got my act together in my thirties, though.

8. noun, rude slang A mistake. In this usage, the phrase is often hyphenated. One little eff up and they kick me out of school. It's just not fair! This is not just an eff-up, Brad—this could bankrupt the entire company!

effing

euphemism Fucking. Based on a spelling of the letter "F," which is used to abbreviate "fuck." I don't want to scream at you in front of the kids, so you better get out of this effing house right now. Quit effing around, you two!

effing and blinding

Passionately and angrily using expletives. "Effing" is a euphemism for "fucking." Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Of course I was effing and blinding when I opened that bill—did you see how much they overcharged me?

See also: and, blind, effing

effing around

rude slang Engaging in aimless recreation or frivolous time-wasting; fooling around. "Eff" is a euphemism for "fuck." I can't believe we spent the whole day just effing around online.

effing and blinding

Effing and blinding means using a lot of rude words. Denise spat at them, effing and blinding until she had used every single curse word invented.

See also: and, blind, effing

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

effing and blinding

using vulgar expletives; swearing.

Effing and blinding here stand for the initial letters of taboo or vulgar slang words.

See also: and, blind, effing

effing and ˈblinding

(British English, informal) using swear words (= rude and offensive words): There was a lot of effing and blinding going on.

See also: and, blind, effing

effing

and F-ing

mod. fucking. (Usually objectionable.) What an effing stupid idea! Who is that F-ing idiot.

effing around

and F-ing around

in. fucking around; messing around. (see also fuck around. Usually objectionable.) They were F-ing around with the switch and turned it on accidentally.