nerf

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• Received-Pronunciation: /nɜːf/
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• General-American: /nɝf/
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• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)f
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From the Nerf brand of toys designed as non-dangerous counterparts of existing things, such as sports balls and guns. Originally used to equate a change in the damage of a weapon in a video game to a change from real weapons to Nerf weapons.

Circa 1950s?

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• French: nerfer — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• German: nerfen — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• Italian: nerfare — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• Japanese: ナーフ (nāfu) — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• Portuguese: nerfar — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• Russian: не́рфить (nérfitʹ) — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• Russian: поне́рфить (ponérfitʹ) — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• Sicilian: nirfari — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• Spanish: nerfear — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• Spanish: debilitar — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• Spanish: menguar — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• Spanish: reducir — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity
• Turkish: nerflemek — to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity