1. Light down or fuzz, as on a young bird or on a dandelion or milkweed seed.
2. Something having a very light, soft, or frothy consistency or appearance: a fluff of meringue; a fluff of cloud.
3. Something of little substance or consequence, especially:
   1. Light or superficial entertainment: The movie was just another bit of fluff from Hollywood.
   2. Inflated or padded material: The report was mostly fluff, with little new information.
4. The parts of a junked car that are not metal and cannot be recycled.
5. Informal. An error, especially in the delivery of lines, as by an actor or announcer.

1. To make fluffy: fluff a pillow; a squirrel fluffing out its tail.
2. Informal.
   1. To ruin or mar by a mistake or blunder: They fluffed their chance to participate in the playoffs by losing their last three games.
   2. To forget or botch (one's lines).

1. To become fluffy.
2. Informal. To make an error, especially to forget or botch one's lines.

[Origin unknown.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.