Meaning of puff in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Verb
    1. Definitions
  3. Classifying Adjective
    1. Definitions
  4. Noun
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /pəf/

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  1. Verb

    puff

    Definitions

    1. smoke and exhale strongly

    Examples

    • « puff a cigar »
    • « whiff a pipe »

    Derived terms

  2. 2. suck in or take (air)

    Examples

    • « draw a deep breath »
    • « draw on a cigarette »

    Derived terms

  3. 3. breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted

    Examples

    • « The runners reached the finish line, panting heavily »

    Derived terms

  4. 4. make proud or conceited

    Examples

    • « The sudden fame puffed her ego »
  5. 5. praise extravagantly

    Examples

    • « The critics puffed up this Broadway production »
  6. 6. speak in a blustering or scornful manner

    Examples

    • « A puffing kind of man »
  7. 7. to swell or cause to enlarge, "Her faced puffed up from the drugs"

    Derived terms

  8. 8. blow hard and loudly

    Examples

    • « he huffed and puffed as he made his way up the mountain »

    Derived terms

  9. Classifying Adjective

    puff

    Definitions

    1. gathered for protruding fullness

    Examples

    • « puff sleeves »

    Synonyms

  10. Noun

    puff

    Etymology

    Middle English: imitative of the sound of a breath, perhaps from Old Englishpyf (noun), pyffan (verb)

    Definitions

    1. a short light gust of air

    Derived terms

  11. 2. a light inflated pastry or puff shell
  12. 3. exaggerated praise (as for promotional purposes)

    Derived terms

  13. 4. bedding made of two layers of cloth filled with stuffing and stitched together

    Derived terms

  14. 5. a soft spherical object made from fluffy fibers

    Examples

    • « for applying powder to the skin »
  15. 6. thick cushion used as a seat
  16. 7. a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)

    Examples

    • « he took a puff on his pipe »
    • « he took a drag on his cigarette and expelled the smoke slowly »

    Derived terms

  17. 8. forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth

    Examples

    • « he gave his nose a loud blow »
    • « he blew out all the candles with a single puff »

    Derived terms

Famous quotes

  • « I have a pet lizard named Puff, five goldfish - named Pinky, Brain, Jowels, Pearl and Sandy, an oscar fish named Chef, two pacus, an albino African frog named Whitey, a bonsai tree, four Venus flytraps, a fruit fly farm and sea monkeys. »
    Chris Pratt
  • « But acting is very much a profession that is you're hot one moment and not the next - and that is totally cool. I think that's what I find most fascinating and most exciting about it - is that it can be gone in a puff of smoke. »
    Keira Knightley

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