boffin
pronunciation
How to pronounce boffin in British English:
UK [ˈbɒfɪn]
How to pronounce boffin in American English:
US [ˈbɑfən]
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- Noun:
- a scientist or technician engaged in military research
Word Origin
- boffin (n.)
- "person engaged in innovative research," especially in aviation, 1945; earlier "elderly naval officer" (1941), probably from one of the "Mr. Boffins" of English literature (as in "Our Mutual Friend").
Example
- 1. I 'm no boffin , but I can spot a flaw in these tests . " Words that they would use to describe a table " ?
- 2. This man isn 't a thief this is professor boffin , the famous scientist !
- 3. In may of the same year ernest rutherford , a new zealand-born british boffin , put forward ( also in the philosophical magazine ) the familiar model of the atom as composed of a dense nucleus orbited by tiny electrons .
- 4. The police take away the car , and they take professor boffin , too !
- 5. A boffin who collects data on butterflies , say , might want to upload it so that others with the same fascination can add their own information .