shufti

have a shufti

To look at something briefly. ("Shufti" originated as a military term.) Primarily heard in UK. Wait, if you're just going to donate these clothes, can I have a shufti first? Some of these dresses are cute!
See also: have, shufti
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

have/take a ˈshufti (at somebody/something)

(British English, informal) have a (quick) look (at somebody/something): I don’t mind having a shufti at the bike, but I can’t afford to buy it.This comes from military slang, from an Arabic word meaning try to see.
See also: have, shufti, take
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • have a shufti
  • have/take a shufti
  • be to do with (something)
  • be/have to do with somebody/something
  • glance over at (someone or something)
  • medallion man
  • worthwhile cause
  • have to do with
References in periodicals archive
Shufti Pro[R] is ecstatic to bridge the gap between concerned regulars and a seamless experience.
Shufti Pro[R] is the hallmark of e-KYC and customer satisfaction in the industry and hopes to keep advancing their services to meet the needs of their consumers.
Shufti Pro provides its customers with a sure shot and simplified way through which they can just hold up their documents to the camera and wait for merely 30 seconds before their documents are flawlessly matched and verified with their identity.
To prevent the frauds and filter the imposters, Shufti Pro serves as an excellent source of online identity verification so that the real-world person is ensured to be the person who claims to be the owner of the ID documents.
From which language does the English slang word shufti, meaning a quick look, derive?
Just then, though, to truly add injury to insult, the moment you stick your head under the bonnet to take a shufti at the Heath Robinson repairs being executed, one of the other gypsies will lean his weary elbow on the bloody thing and down it will crash, catching you a corker on your already sore skull and bouncing your teeth off the radiator cap.
Have a shufti at the interior of the Peking-Paris model - and wonder at the gear stick.
Horace Rumpole said the only honourable way to pass a law exam was by scribbling a few notes on your shirt cuff and taking the odd shufti.
Occasionally he would have a shufti at the newspaper.
You can also hop into Hungary on a separate ticket and have a shufti at Budapest.