muffin

name

1. A female given name.
2. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From earlier moofin, probably a diminutive of Low German Muffe ("small cake"; Muffen (plural)), from Middle Low German muffe (“small pastry”). An alternative, and phonologically less plausible theory suggests a connection to Old French (pain) moflet (“roll”, literally “soft (bread)”). Sense “vulva” influenced by muff.

1. A type of flattish bun, usually cut in two horizontally, toasted and spread with butter, etc., before being eaten.

   “[…] but he had still at intervals a kind listener in Mrs. Phillips, and was by her watchfulness, most abundantly supplied with coffee and muffin.”

   “We take a less gloomy view of our errors now our father confessor listens to us over his egg and coffee. We are more distinctly conscious that rude penances are out of the question for gentlemen in an enlightened age, and that mortal sin is not incompatible with an appetite for muffins.”

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).

   “Aubrey got a bowl of soup, a cup of coffee, beef stew, and bran muffins, and took them to an empty seat by the window. He ate with one eye on the street.”

   “Newland and his wife had had no idea of obeying this injunction; but Mrs. Carfry, with her usual acuteness, had run them down and sent them an invitation to dine; and it was over this invitation that May Archer was wrinkling her brows across the tea and muffins.”

3. Term of endearment.

   “I love you, muffin!”

4. The vulva or vagina; pubic hair around it.

   “I wanna be stuffin' Martha's muffin!”

   “Is your muffin buttered?”

5. A less talented player; one who muffs, or drops the ball.
6. A charming, attractive young man.
7. A small plate, smaller than a twiffler.
8. A roll, bap or cob, which may or may not be flat or toasted.
9. A very weak shot in ice hockey where the puck does not travel fast.
10. A young woman who would regularly accompany a particular man during a social season.

    “I had a charming muffin yesterday. She is engaged to be married, so don't be alarmed.”

    “The fair Canadians may have been too kind in accepting the name and position of "muffins" from the young Britishry; but the latter cannot say they have suffered much in consequence. A muffin is simply a lady who sits beside the male occupant of the sleigh—Sola cum solo, "and all the rest is leather and prunella."”

11. 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."”

verb

1. Alternative letter-case form of MUFFIN.

   “Microsoft’s and SDS’s compilers come on 3.2 disks that may be Muffined to 3.3.”

   “Muffining Integer Basic Plus to DOS 3.3[…]DUAL BOOT is an excellent tool for modifying adventure disks and other disks that can not be Muffined to DOS 3.3 disks.”