tiff

noun

1. (informal)A (generally small) argument or disagreement; a petty quarrel, a spat.

   “My Lord and I have had another little—Tiff, ſhall I call it? It came not up to a quarrel. Married people vvould have enough to do, if they vvere to trouble their friends every time they miſunderſtood one another.”

   “There's Tom, now, since this tiff with Mrs. Cat, the scoundrel plays the Grand Turk here!”

   “[T]he blithe young couple were a pleasant sight to see, as they twirled merrily round and round, feeling more friendly than ever after their small tiff.”

   “I had lived with her all this time, unaware how much she hated these things. In themselves they were trivial. Stupid. Something to laugh off, not make a big issue out of. We'd had a little tiff and would have forgotten about it in a couple of days.”

   “Lovers' tiffs are very amusing in that new lovers expect their little universe to be 100% perfect. […] At the other extreme, couples who are married with children have heavily disguised tiffs. A man saying in a slightly strained way, 'I'm going to turn the compost', is actually saying, 'And that's all you are, Jean, compost!' Of course, what happens is eventually he apologises, they cry, make love, have another child, get overtired and the tiffing continues.”

2. (archaic, informal)A brief outburst or period of bad temper; a snit; also (rare) any brief outburst (for example, of laughter).

   “[A]s if / Returning homevvards in a furious Tiff; / Your Hoſt declares, he's ſorry at his Heart, / And humbly acts the penitential Part.”

   “Wilhelmina […] answered his romances and him with tiffs of laughter, in a prettily fleeting manner.”

3. (alt-of, informal)Alternative letter-case form of TIFF (acronym of tagged image file format).
4. (archaic, countable, informal, obsolete, slang)A small draught or sip of liquor (especially diluted or poor quality liquor) or punch.

   “Come, Captain, let not your noble Courage be caſt dovvn; vvhat ſay you to a Glaſs of vvhite VVine, or a Tiff of Punch, by VVay of VVhet?”

   “"Good wife," said Skriegh, gathering up his mouth, and sipping his tiff of brandy punch with great solemnity […]”

5. (archaic, informal, obsolete, slang, uncountable)Liquor, especially diluted or poor quality liquor.

   “By dint of drinking acid tiff, as above mentioned, and smoking segars, in which I am no novice, my Public are to be informed, that I gradually drank and smoked myself into a certain degree of acquaintance with un homme comme il faut [a proper man], one of the few fine old specimens of nobility who are still to be found in France; […]”

6. (archaic, informal, obsolete, rare, slang)The way in which one's body or hair is decked out or dressed.

   “Did you mark the beau Tiff of his VVig, vvhat a deal of Pains he took to toſs it back, vvhen the very VVeight thereof vvas like to dravv him from his Seat?”

7. An image stored in the TIFF format.
8. A file using TIFF file format
9. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of TIFF.

verb

1. (informal, intransitive)To be involved in a (generally small) argument or disagreement; to squabble.

   “I very much indeed approve / Of maidens moderating love / Until they've twenty pounds; / […] / Until the twenty pounds were safe, / She tiff'd at Tim, she ran from Ralph, / Squire nodded … deuce a curtsy!”

   “Poor Newton! he little knew to what he owed that glance. The fact is, the Captain was late, and Miss Bowers tiffed.”

2. (British, India, informal, intransitive)Synonym of tiffin (“to eat a (light) midday meal or snack; to have lunch, to lunch”).

   “Besides that one to which the permanent residence was attached, Mr. Augustus had several outlaying factories, which he visited from time to time, to superintend the manufacture of his indigo; at all of these he had little bungalows, or temporary abodes, where we tiffed and passed the heat of the day.”

   “Go home, Jack. I will tiff with you to-day at half-past two.”

3. (archaic, informal, obsolete, slang, transitive)To drink (liquor), especially slowly or in small amounts; to sip.

   “Nor did the Doctor fail to go / To the bright region of the Row; / There tiff'd his punch and talk'd and smok'd, / Was sometimes grave and sometimes jok'd; […]”

4. (archaic, informal, obsolete, reflexive, slang, transitive)To deck out or dress (someone or oneself, or their body or hair).

   “Is the Miſs under a force vvhen ſhe culls among her trinkets vvith curious toil to tiff herſelf out in the most engaging manner, or teazes pappa for money to buy a nevv-faſhioned ſilk?”

5. (archaic, informal, intransitive, obsolete, slang)To deck out or dress one's body or hair.

   “I never pin up my Hair vvith Proſe. I fancy ones Hair vvou'd not curl if it vvere pinn'd up vvith Proſe. […] Ay, poor Mincing tift and tift all the morning.”

name

1. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of)Acronym of tagged image file format.
2. A diminutive of the female given name Tiffany.