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Definition of puff - 12 dictionary results

puff

  [puhf]
Use puff in a Sentence
–noun
1. a short, quick blast, as of wind or breath.
2. an abrupt emission of air, smoke, vapor, etc.
3. an act of inhaling and exhaling, as on a cigarette or pipe; whiff.
4. the sound of an abrupt emission of air, vapor, etc.
5. a small quantity of vapor, smoke, etc., emitted at one blast.
6. an inflated or distended part of a thing; swelling; protuberance.
7. a form of light pastry with a filling of cream, jam, or the like.
8. a portion of material gathered and held down at the edges but left full in the middle, as on a sleeve.
9. a cylindrical roll of hair.
10. a quilted bed covering, usually filled with down.
11. a commendation, esp. an exaggerated one, of a book, an actor's performance, etc.
12. powder puff.
13. a ball or pad of soft material.
14. puffball.
15. Chiefly British Slang. a male homosexual.
–verb (used without object)
16. to blow with short, quick blasts, as the wind.
17. to be emitted in a puff.
18. to emit a puff or puffs; breathe quick and hard, as after violent exertion.
19. to go with puffing or panting.
20. to emit puffs or whiffs of vapor or smoke.
21. to move with such puffs: The locomotive puffed into the station.
22. to take puffs at a cigar, cigarette, etc.
23. to become inflated, distended, or swollen (usually fol. by up).
24. (esp. of an auctioneer's accomplice) to bid on an item at an auction solely to increase the price that the final bidder must pay.
–verb (used with object)
25. to send forth (air, vapor, etc.) in short, quick blasts.
26. to drive or impel by puffing, or with a short, quick blast.
27. to extinguish by means of a puff (usually fol. by out): to puff a match out.
28. to smoke (a cigar, cigarette, etc.).
29. to inflate, distend, or swell, esp. with air.
30. to make fluffy; fluff (often fol. by up): to puff up a pillow.
31. to inflate with pride, vanity, etc. (often fol. by up): Their applause puffed him up.
32. to praise unduly or with exaggeration.
33. to apply powder to (the cheeks, neck, etc.) with a powder puff.
34. to apply (powder) with a powder puff.
35. to arrange in puffs, as the hair.
Origin:
1175–1225; (v.) ME puffen (cf. MD puffen, LG pof, puf); (n.) ME puf, puffe; of imit. orig.

Related forms:
puff⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
11. overpraise, exaggeration, puffery, flattery.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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puff   (pŭf)   
n.  
    1. A short forceful exhalation of breath.
    2. A short sudden gust of wind.
    3. A brief sudden emission of air, vapor, or smoke.
    4. A short sibilant sound produced by a puff.
    5. An approving or flattering recommendation.
    6. A piece of writing, as on the jacket of a book, containing often exaggerated praise, used for promotional purposes.
  2. An amount of vapor, smoke, or similar material released in a puff.
  3. An act of drawing in and expelling the breath, as in smoking tobacco.
  4. A swelling or rounded protuberance.
  5. Puff pastry.
  6. A light soft pad for applying powder or lotion.
  7. A gathered, protruding portion of fabric.
  8. A light padded bed covering.
    1. An approving or flattering recommendation.
    2. A piece of writing, as on the jacket of a book, containing often exaggerated praise, used for promotional purposes.
  10. Genetics A localized region of swelling in certain chromosomes indicating the active synthesis of RNA.
v.   puffed, puff·ing, puffs

v.   intr.
  1. To blow in puffs.
  2. To come forth in puffs: steam puffing from an engine.
  3. To breathe forcefully and rapidly: huffed and puffed up the stairs.
  4. To emit puffs.
  5. To take puffs on smoking material: puffing on a cigar.
  6. To swell or seem to swell, as with pride or air. Often used with up: He puffed up and glared at the importuning questioner.
v.   tr.
  1. To emit or give forth in puffs.
  2. To impel with puffs.
  3. To smoke (a cigar, for example).
  4. To inflate or distend.
  5. To fill with pride or conceit.
  6. To publicize with often exaggerated praise: publishers who puff their new books.

[From Middle English puffen, to puff, from Old English pyffan, perhaps of imitative origin.]
puff'i·ly adv., puff'i·ness n., puff'y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Puff

Puff\ (p[u^]f), n. [Akin to G. & Sw. puff a blow, Dan. puf, D. pof; of imitative origin. Cf. Buffet.]

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." --Flatman.

2. Anything light and filled with air. Specifically: (a) A puffball. (b) a 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. (Zo["o]l.) (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, or Clotho arietans) is the largest species, becoming over four feet long. The plumed puff adder (C. 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 (Zo["o]l.), any bird of the genus Bucco, or family Bucconid[ae]. They are small birds, usually with dull-colored and loose plumage, and have twelve tail feathers. See Barbet (b) .

Puff

Puff\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Puffed (p[u^]ft); p. pr. & vb. n. Puffing.] [Akin to G. puffen to pop, buffet, puff, D. poffen to pop, puffen to blow, Sw. puffa to push, to cuff, Dan. puffe to pop, thump. See Puff, n.]

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. --South.

3. To breathe quick and hard, or with puffs, as after violent exertion.

The ass comes back again, puffing and blowing, from the chase. --L' Estrange.

4. To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated. --Boyle.

5. To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner; hence, to assume importance.

Then came brave Glory puffing by. --Herbert.

Puff

Puff\, v. t. 1. To drive with a puff, or with puffs.

The clearing north will puff the clouds away. --Dryden.

2. To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously.

I puff the prostitute away. --Dryden.

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. --Shak.

4. To inflate with pride, flattery, self-esteem, or the like; -- often with up.

Puffed up with military success. --Jowett (Thucyd. )

5. To praise with exaggeration; to flatter; to call public attention to by praises; to praise unduly. " Puffed with wonderful skill." --Macaulay.

Puff

Puff\, a. Puffed up; vain. [R.] --Fanshawe.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : puff
Spanish: soplo, racha, ráfaga; bocanada,
German: der Hauch,
Japanese: ひと吹き
More Translations »

puff

vt. To decompress data that has been crunched by Huffman coding. At least one widely distributed Huffman decoder program was actually _named_ `PUFF', but these days it is usually packaged with the encoder. Oppose huff, see inflate.
Jargon File 4.2.0
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puff 
O.E. pyffian "an act of puffing," of imitative origin. Used of small swellings and round protuberances since 1538. Meaning "type of light pastry" is recorded from 1419; that of "small pad for applying powder to skin or hair" is from 1658. Figurative sense of "flattery, inflated praise" is first recorded 1732. Puffy "swollen" is from 1664. Puff-ball, type of fungus, is from 1649; puffer, type of fish, is from 1814.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: puff
Function: noun
1 : an act or instance of puffing
2 : a statement that amounts to puffing puff” or an express warranty —J. J. White and Railroad S. Summers>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Main Entry: 1puff
Pronunciation: 'p&f
Function: intransitive verb
1 : to become distended : SWELL —usually used with up
2 : to form a chromosomal puff

Main Entry: 2puff
Function: noun
1 : WINDGALL
2 : anenlarged region of a chromosome that is associated with intensely active genes involved in RNA synthesis
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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puff algorithm
To decompress data that has been crunched by Huffman coding. At least one widely distributed Huffman decoder program was actually *named* "PUFF", but these days it is usually packaged with the encoder.
Opposite: huff.
[The Jargon File]
(1996-10-16)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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