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Puff   /pəf/   Listen
noun
Puff  n.  
1.
A sudden and single emission of breath from the mouth; hence, any sudden or short blast of wind; a slight gust; a whiff. " To every puff of wind a slave."
2.
Anything light and filled with air. Specifically:
(a)
A puffball.
(b)
kind of light pastry.
(c)
A utensil of the toilet for dusting the skin or hair with powder.
3.
An exaggerated or empty expression of praise, especially one in a public journal.
Puff adder. (Zool.)
(a)
Any South African viper belonging to Clotho and allied genera. They are exceedingly venomous, and have the power of greatly distending their bodies when irritated. The common puff adder (Vipera arietans, or Clotho arietans) is the largest species, becoming over four feet long. The plumed puff adder (Clotho cornuta) has a plumelike appendage over each eye.
(b)
A North American harmless snake (Heterodon platyrrhinos) which has the power of puffing up its body. Called also hog-nose snake, flathead, spreading adder, and blowing adder.
Puff bird (Zool.), any bird of the genus Bucco, or family Bucconidae. They are small birds, usually with dull-colored and loose plumage, and have twelve tail feathers. See Barbet (b).


verb
Puff  v. t.  
1.
To drive with a puff, or with puffs. "The clearing north will puff the clouds away."
2.
To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously. "I puff the prostitute away."
3.
To cause to swell or dilate; to inflate; to ruffle with puffs; often with up; as, a bladder puffed with air. "The sea puffed up with winds."
4.
To inflate with pride, flattery, self-esteem, or the like; often with up. "Puffed up with military success."
5.
To praise with exaggeration; to flatter; to call public attention to by praises; to praise unduly. " Puffed with wonderful skill."


Puff  v. i.  (past & past part. puffed; pres. part. puffing)  
1.
To blow in puffs, or with short and sudden whiffs.
2.
To blow, as an expression of scorn; with at. "It is really to defy Heaven to puff at damnation."
3.
To breathe quick and hard, or with puffs, as after violent exertion. "The ass comes back again, puffing and blowing, from the chase."
4.
To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated.
5.
To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner; hence, to assume importance. "Then came brave Glory puffing by."


adjective
Puff  adj.  Puffed up; vain. (R.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Puff" Quotes from Famous Books



... to have a breeze, Bob," said he, as a sharp puff of wind crossed the deck, driving the black smoke to leeward, and making the fire ...
— Fighting the Whales • R. M. Ballantyne
... were so kind to me when I wanted kindness, that you may take the change out of that gold now, and say I am a cannibal and negro, if you will. Ha, Baggs! Dost thou wince as thou readest this line? Does guilty conscience throbbing at thy breast tell thee of whom the fable is narrated? Puff out thy wrath, and, when it has ceased to blow, my Baggs shall be to me as the Baggs of old—the generous, ...
— Roundabout Papers • William Makepeace Thackeray
... on July 4, 1806, was: "Aquatic Theatre, Sadler's Wells. A new dance called Grist and Puff, or the Highland Fling. The admired comic pantomime, Harlequin and the Water Kelpe. New melodramatic Romance, The Invisible Ring; or, The Water Monstre and Fire Spectre." The author of both was Mr. ...
— The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, Vol. 5 • Edited by E. V. Lucas
... speedily cut. Three hands jumped into the boat, and the end of a hawser being heaved to them, they towed round the schooner's head—the current caught it and helped them. Meantime the topsails were loosed and the jib run up; a puff of wind also came down the creek. Away glided the schooner—the boat dropped alongside. The slave-dealers, now mustering strong, began firing at them. They fired in return, so as to drive the villains to seek shelter behind the trees. It might well have enraged the Spaniards to see ...
— The Three Midshipmen • W.H.G. Kingston
... in a moment—a wonderful, tense moment, during which I sat frozen to my chair, stricken dumb and motionless with the tragedy which it seemed that I alone had witnessed. For there had been a little puff of sound, so slight that no other ears had noticed it. The seat in front of me was empty, and the man on my right had fallen forwards, his hand pressed to his side, his face curiously livid, patchy with streaks of dark colour, his eyes bulbous. Waiters still hurried to and fro, the hum of conversation ...
— The Master Mummer • E. Phillips Oppenheim


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