muffin

Etymology

From earlier moofin, of uncertain origin. Likely from Low German muffen, plural or possibly a diminutive of Low German muffe (“small cake”), both from Middle Low German muffe (“small pastry”). An alternative theory suggests a connection to Old French moflet (“tender, soft (bread)”).

noun

1. (Britain) A type of flattish bun, usually cut in two horizontally, toasted and spread with butter, etc, before being eaten; an English muffin.
2. A cupcake-shaped baked good (for example of cornbread, banana bread, or a chocolate dough), sometimes glazed but typically without frosting, eaten especially for breakfast (in contrast to a cupcake, which is a dessert).
   For quotations using this term, see Citations:muffin.
3. (computing) A mechanism used in the Java Network Launching Protocol analogous to the cookie mechanism and which permits a program running in a browser to perform operations on a client machine.
   The name/value pairs provided by the PersistenceService are similar to browser cookies. The Java Web Start implementation honors this legacy by naming the pairs "muffins. 2001, JNLP and Java Web Start, Sun Developer Network, Technical Articles and Tips, 30 May 2001
4. (slang) Term of endearment.
   I love you, muffin!
5. (vulgar, sexual slang) Female pubic hair; female genitals (vulva, vagina), like muff.
   I wanna be stuffin' Martha's muffin! 1986, “Stuffin' Martha's Muffin”, in Frenzy, performed by Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper
6. (baseball, slang) A less talented player; one who muffs, or drops the ball.
7. (slang) A charming, attractive young man.
8. (dated) A small plate, smaller than a twiffler.
9. (UK dialect, Northern England (especially Manchester)) Another word for a roll, bap or cob, even one that isn’t flat or toasted.

verb

1. To eat muffins.
   I dined yesterday at | three on mutton chops and 1/2 pint of E[ast] I [ndian] sherry, and then tead and muffined at 8. 1837, Benjamin Disraeli, Benjamin Disraeli Letters: 1835-1837, Toronto, Buffalo, London: University of Toronto Press, published 1982, page 319
   And now comes a recipe guaranteed to keep the family happily muffined. 12 October 1965, “Gingerbread Muffins Start Day Off Right”, in The Calgary Herald, Calgary, Alta., page 39
   NANCY SCRAPES OFF the mold without complaining because it is like a gift from Carl, and she doesn’t have the heart to tell him she is muffined out … 27 January 1987, Concetta Doucette, “Savings”, in Impact (Albuquerque Journal Magazine), volume 10, number 15, page 13
   HAVE YOU muffined out, had more than your share of croissants? 28 February 1988, Bea Lewis, “For Teatime Or Anytime”, in The Newsday Magazine, page 35
   We met about 8:00 A.M. for the usual continental breakfast – I am getting over muffined! 2005, Marlin E. Misner, editor, History of the Reagan Home: The Boyhood Home in Dixon, Illinois, page 35
   ‘So what I can get you to celebrate. Bit of cake?’ ‘I’m all muffined up, thanks!’ 2007, Jane Sigaloff, The Romancipation of Maggie Hunter, Red Dress Ink, page 159
   Hehe, I've eaten three apple muffins this morning. I've all muffined out! 2017, Carrie Ewin, Chris Ewin, Cheryl Ewin, “Lesson 5: Creating Text Posts”, in Facebook for Seniors: Connect with Friends and Family in 12 Easy Lessons, San Francisco, Caif.: No Starch Press, section “Viewing Your Posts on Your Timeline”, page 97
2. To feed muffins.
   We were caffeined and muffined and then asked to seat ourselves at any of several large round tables. 1999, Working Woman, page 96
   Well, you know, my mother always told me to welcome new neighbors with muffins, and I just realized you’ve already been here six months and I still haven’t gotten around to baking muffins for you … Well anyway, that’s all I wanted to tell you — consider yourself muffined! 2001, Nancy Huston, Dolce Agonia, Toronto, Ont.: McArthur & Company, page 102
3. To become like a muffin; to increase in size.
   A pale band of flesh muffined up over her shorts, her lively top not quite up to the task of covering it, and Chrissy tugged at the fabric ineffectively. 2009 August, Sophie Littlefield, A Bad Day for Sorry, New York, N.Y.: Minotaur Books, page 48
   In spite of wearing the largest size of body armor available, her ample breasts were simply much too big, and deliciously muffined over the top. 2009 December, James Axler [house name; Nick Pollotta], “Prologue”, in Time Castaways (Deathlands), Worldwide Library, page 16
   Baby fat muffined over the top of Rebecca’s jeans. 2013, E[lizabeth] F[rancine] Winters, chapter 15, in Sharks and Minnows (book one of The Jolie Chronicles), Kenspeckle Productions, LLC, page 173
   Allan Grace was lean, but his neck muffined out over the crisp white collar. 2014, Terry Dowling, “The Four Darks”, in Ellen Datlow, editor, Fearful Symmetries: An Anthology of Horror, ChiZine Publications, page 117
   Beers rested on bellies that muffined over shorts. 2014, David Mason, Walk Across Australia: The First Solo Crossing, Rosenberg Publishing
   It may have been Nurse Agnes’ looping signature that touched him off, or the way flesh muffined from the pumps of the fat lady that boarded the bus at his stop every morning: a spark is a spark, and one was as good as any other. 2016, Adam Biles, Feeding Time, Galley Beggar Press
4. To make like a muffin.
   Twanty-two harrin’ and t’ree ship’s biscuits, muffined like! Ah, yew doan’t know what muffined biscuits be! 1920, The Windsor Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women, page 418
   WE HAVE too many raisins in our cake; / Our bread is muffined. 1924, Edmund Vance Cooke, “Fat”, in Companionable Poems, page 183
   Toques high as Queen Mary’s or low as a pillbox, extended and thickened and muffined at the edge. 1944, Harper’s Bazaar, page 63
   Muffined Eggs with Mushrooms 1990, Caleb Pirtle, The Land Where We Belong, Leisure Time Publishing, page 91
5. Alternative letter-case form of MUFFIN
   (The package may also be “muffined” by those users who wish to take advantage of the greater disk capacity available using the new Apple DOS 3.3). 6 July 1981, Joel Pitt, “InfoWorld Software Review: Micro-Painter: Apple Coloring Program”, in InfoWorld, section “Usefulness”, page 16
   Print II is supplied on a DOS 3.2 disk (it can be muffined to DOS 3.3 ), which contains programs to customize Print II for specific memory configurations and several simple demonstration programs. 1982, Microcomputing, page 157
   Second, any material that is indicated as 3.2 DOS must either be muffined to 3.3 DOS, or booted after using the Basics Utility to reconfigure your DOS to 13-sector.[…]DOS 3.2 is used in this mode, but files may be muffined to DOS 3.3 if desired. 1983, InCider, pages 83 and 92