Aapje Punch en zijn knuffel in de dierentuin

What does “knuffel” mean in Dutch?

Knuffel does two jobs in Dutch with no extra word needed. As a noun it’s a stuffed toy (“teddy”); as a verb (knuffelen) it’s “to cuddle, to snuggle.” The same word covers both because Dutch culture treats the toy and the act as one continuous thing, the way English needs two words (“a cuddle” and “to cuddle”).

In this clip, Tokyo zookeepers give a baby macaque named Punch a soft orang-oetan knuffel after his mother rejects him. The Dutch headline calls the whole story een knuffel, both the object and what Punch keeps doing with it. The word’s double duty is half the headline’s charm.