puff
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
Old English pyffian
Pronunciation [edit]
-
- Rhymes: -ʌf
Noun [edit]
puff (countable and uncountable; plural puffs)
- (countable) A sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth.
- (uncountable) The ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself.
- out of puff
- (countable) A small quantity of gas or smoke in the air.
- puff of smoke
- puff of wind
- (informal, countable) An act of inhaling smoke from a cigarette, cigar or pipe.
- (countable) A flamboyant or alluring statement about an object's quality.
- 1842, "A Paper on Puffing", in Ainsworth's Magazine
- Is nothing to be said in praise of the "Emporiums" and "Repositories" and "Divans," which formerly were mere insignificant tailors', toymen's, and tobacconists' shops? Is the transition from the barber's pole to the revolving bust of the perruquier, nothing? — the leap from the bare counter-traversed shop to the carpeted and mirrored saloon of trade, nothing? Arc they not, one and all, practical puffs, intended to invest commerce with elegance, and to throw a halo round extravagance?
- 1848, Mrs. White, "Puffs and Puffing", in Sharpe's London Magazine
- Here the duke is made the vehicle of the tailor's advertisement, and the prelusive compliments, ostensibly meant for his grace, merge into a covert recommendation of the coat. Several specimens might be given of this species of puff, which is to be met with in almost every paper, and is a favourite form with booksellers, professional men, &e.
- 2008, David Paton-Williamspage, Katterfelto, page xii
- He was the eighteenth century king of spin, or, in the language of the day, the "prince of puff".
- 1842, "A Paper on Puffing", in Ainsworth's Magazine
- (uncountable, slang) The drug cannabis.
- (countable) A light cake filled with cream, cream cheese, etc.
- cream puff
- (derogatory, slang, UK, particularly northern UK) a homosexual; a poof
- (slang, dated) life
- 1938, P. G. Wodehouse (Bertie Wooster speaking of Spode) in The Code of the Woosters
- Did you ever in your puff see such a perfect perisher?
- 1938, P. G. Wodehouse (Bertie Wooster speaking of Spode) in The Code of the Woosters
Synonyms [edit]
- (sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth):
- (ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself): wind
- (small quantity of gas or smoke in the air):
- (act of inhaling smoke from a cigarette, cigar or pipe): drag
- (cannabis): blow, dope, ganja, pot, weed; see also Wiktionary appendix of cannabis slang
- (type of cake): pastry
- (poof): See poof
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth
ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself
small quantity of gas or smoke in the air
informal: act of inhaling smoke from a cigarette, cigar or pipe
slang: cannabis
homosexual — see poof
Verb [edit]
puff (third-person singular simple present puffs, present participle puffing, simple past and past participle puffed)
- (intransitive) To emit smoke, gas, etc., in puffs.
- (intransitive) To pant.
- 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter VI
- We ran for the better part of a mile without hearing anything more from the direction of the harbor, and then I reduced the speed to a walk, for the exercise was telling on us who had been cooped up for so long in the confined interior of the U-33. Puffing and panting, we plodded on until within about a mile of the harbor we came upon a sight that brought us all up standing.
- 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter VI
- (transitive, archaic) To advertise
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to emit smoke, gas, etc., in puffs
pant — see pant
Finnish [edit]
Interjection [edit]
puff
- poof (deflating object or a magical disappearance)
