Advertisement

fuzz (n.)

1590s, fusse, first attested in fusball "puff ball of tiny spores," of uncertain origin; perhaps a back-formation from fuzzy, if that word is older than the record of it. Meaning "the police" is American English, 1929, underworld slang; origin, signification, and connection to the older word unknown. Perhaps a variant of fuss, with a notion of "hard to please."

fuzz (v.)

1702, "make fuzzy," from fuzz (n.). Related: Fuzzed; fuzzing. Fuzzword (based on buzzword) "deliberately confusing or imprecise bit of jargon" is a coinage in political writing from 1983.

Others are reading

Advertisement
Definitions of fuzz from WordNet

fuzz (n.)
filamentous hairlike growth on a plant;
peach fuzz
Synonyms: hair / tomentum
fuzz (n.)
uncomplimentary terms for a policeman;
Synonyms: bull / cop / copper / pig
fuzz (n.)
a hazy or indistinct representation;
he tried to clear his head of the whisky fuzz
Synonyms: blur
fuzz (n.)
the first beard of an adolescent boy;
From wordnet.princeton.edu