puff
puff (puf)
noun
- a short, sudden burst or gust, as of wind, or an expulsion, as of breath
- the sound of this
- a small quantity of vapor, smoke, etc. expelled at one time
- a draw at a cigarette, pipe, etc.
- a swelling, or a protuberance caused by swelling
- a shell of soft, light pastry filled with whipped cream, custard, etc.
- a soft, bulging mass of material, full in the middle and gathered in at the edges
- a soft roll of hair on the head
- a soft pad for dabbing powder on the skin or hair
- a quilted bed covering with cotton, wool, or down filling
- Archaic vain show; bluff
- an advertisement, review, etc., as of a book, containing undue or exaggerated praise
Etymology: ME puf < OE pyff < the v.
intransitive verb
- to blow in puffs, as the wind
- to give forth puffs of smoke, steam, etc.
- to breathe rapidly and hard, as from running
- to move, giving forth puffs: with away, out, in, etc.
- to come in puffs, as smoke
- to fill (out or up), as with air
- to become inflated, as with pride: with out or up
- to swell (out or up), as skin tissue
- to take a puff or puffs at a cigarette, pipe, etc.
Etymology: ME puffen < OE pyffan, of echoic orig.
transitive verb
- to blow, drive, give forth, etc. in or with a puff or puffs
- to swell; distend; inflate
- to praise unduly
- to write or print a puff of to puff a novel
- to smoke (a cigarette, pipe, etc.)
- to set (the hair) in soft, round masses or rolls
puff
v.
Object
- sleeve: It has three quarter length sleeves puffed at the top.
- rice: All your favorite foods are re-made in the style of puffed wheat or puffed rice.
- smoke: A snug, isolated chalet at the very end of a lane reassuringly puffed smoke from its chimney.
Preposition: on
- cigar: In the summer, I would puff on cigars.
- cigarette: The fella on the right wearing shorts is puffing on a cigarette, with most of the others still sat in the vehicle.
Converse of object
- blow: Now and again there blew a puff of wind, but these sheets of falling water kept it down.
Adjective modifier
- slight: Taking pictures proved to be very challenging due to their incessant movement at the slightest puff of wind!
- quick: A quick puff of breath opens the chamber which is allowed to fall away from the blower to produce this pendant bulb shape.
Modifies a noun
- pastry: The fresh cream puff pastry Sandwich was the " bees knees " .
- adder: On my way to Raffi and Anthea I encountered the biggest puff adder ever and hissing away.
- sleeve: The pretty puff sleeves also have matching embroidered panels.
Noun used with modifier
- powder: The powder puff was only needed once, to minimize the lens flare from Steve Castle's head.
- sugar: Or maybe it was the sight of a man sitting at a school table eating sugar puffs with water... I'll never know.
- cream: The fresh cream puff pastry Sandwich was the " bees knees " .
- cheese: Wild mushroom & goat's cheese puff pastry is a typical vegetarian option.
Preposition: of
- smoke: With a puff of smoke, Des handed Ralph an ax.
- breath: He noted how air currents curled, how ghostly snakes could be spun with the movement of a finger, a puff of breath.
- wind: She looks like a puff of wind could carry her away.
- steam: My horse was tired; puffs of steam clouded his breath.
- dust: One such case involved a retired teacher in Huddersfield who was exposed to puffs of dust billowing out of classroom walls for 24 years.
There was a poor poet named Clough, Whom his friends all united to puff, But the public, though dull, Had not such a skull As belonged to believers in Clough.
The pipe with solemn interposing puff, Makes half a sentence at a time enough; The dozing sages drop the drowsy strain, Then pause, and pufföand speak, and pause again.
Puffing is of various sorts; the principal are, the puff direct, the puff preliminary, the puff collateral, the puff collusive, and the puff oblique, or puff by implication.
Browse dictionary entries near puff
- Puerto Rico
- puerperium
- puerperal fever
- puerperal
- puerility
- puerilism
- puerile
- pueblo
- Puebla
- pudgy
- puff adder
- puff pastry
- puffball
- puffed
- puffer
- Puffer, Stefan Case
- puffery
- puffin
- puffing
- puffy
