Definition of "underfur" [underfur]

• The soft, fine undercoat of certain mammals, such as otters, beavers, and seals. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In fact, the underfur was no longer available in quantity, for beaver populations had precipitously declined, a hard fact noted by old trappers who remembered the glory days when the animals were so numerous a man could whack them dead with a stick."
• "Collection of the underfur causes the death of the chiru."
• "It is being slaughtered illegally by the thousands for its wool actually, the underfur of the chiru, which is known in the international market as "shahtoosh" or "king of wool.""