slang. (See quot. 1754; it is doubtful whether the later explanations represent a change of sense or a misunderstanding.)
1753. E. Moore, in The World, No. 41, 11 Oct., ¶ 7. As to shuffling, fuzzing, changing of seats, hints to a partner, setting up honours without holding them, and the like, which are the essentials of the game [whist], he was an absolute ideot.
1754. Chesterf. Ibid., No. 101, 5 Dec., ¶ 5. I was also a witness to the rise and progress of that most important verb, ‘to fuzz’; which, if not of legitimate birth, is at least of fair extraction. As I am not sure that it has yet made its way into Mr. Johnson’s literary retirement, I think myself obliged to inform him that it is at present the most useful, and the most used word in our language; since it means no less than dealing twice together with the same pack of cards, for luck’s sake, at whist.
1755. Connoisseur, No. 60, 20 March, ¶ 3. It seems to be a strange neglect in the education of females, that though great pains are taken to make them talk French, they are yet so ignorant of the English language, that before they come to their teens, they can scarce tell what is meant by lurching, revoking, fuzzing the cards, or the most common terms now in use at all routs and assemblies.
1796. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue (ed. 3), To Fuzz, to shuffle cards minutely; also, to change the pack.
