whiff
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
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- Rhymes: -ɪf
[edit] Noun
whiff (plural whiffs)
- A waft; a brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air
- An odour carried briefly through the air
- (Can we date this quote?) Ann Coulter
- everyone has always known, widely promiscuous heterosexual men have, as I say, a whiff of the bathhouse about them.
- 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 2
- A whiff of rotten eggs had vanquished the pale clouded yellows which came pelting across the orchard and up Dods Hill and away on to the moor…
- (Can we date this quote?) Ann Coulter
- A short inhalation of breath, especially of smoke from a cigarette or pipe
- (baseball) A strike (from the batter’s perspective)
- The megrim, a fish with scientific name Lepidorhombus boscii or Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Translations
waft; brief, gentle breeze; light gust of air
odour carried briefly through the air
short inhalation of breath
strike
megrim
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[edit] Verb
whiff (third-person singular simple present whiffs, present participle whiffing, simple past and past participle whiffed)
- (transitive) To waft.
- (transitive) To sniff.
- (intransitive, baseball) To strike out.
- (slang) to attempt to strike and miss, especially being off-balance/vulnerable after missing.
[edit] Translations
sniff
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baseball sense — see strike out
[edit] Adjective
whiff (comparative more whiff, superlative most whiff)
- (colloquial) Having a strong or unpleasant odor.
- 2002: Jim Rozen, Way oil in rec.crafts.metalworking
- Whoo boy that gear oil is pretty whiff. If you actually do this, spend the extra money for the synthetic gear oil as it will not have as bad a sulfur stink as the regular stuff.
- 2002: Jim Rozen, Way oil in rec.crafts.metalworking
