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whiff

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whiff

1  [hwif, wif]
Use whiff in a Sentence
–noun
1. a slight gust or puff of wind, air, vapor, smoke, or the like: a whiff of fresh air.
2. a slight trace of odor or smell: a whiff of onions.
3. a single inhalation or exhalation of air, tobacco smoke, or the like.
4. a trace or hint: a whiff of scandal.
5. a slight outburst: a little whiff of temper.
–verb (used without object)
6. to blow or come in whiffs or puffs, as wind or smoke.
7. to inhale or exhale whiffs, as in smoking tobacco.
8. Baseball Slang. (of a batter) to strike out by swinging at and missing the pitch charged as the third strike.
–verb (used with object)
9. to blow or drive with a whiff or puff, as the wind does.
10. to inhale or exhale (air, tobacco smoke, etc.) in whiffs.
11. to smoke (a pipe, cigar, etc.).
12. Baseball Slang. (of a pitcher) to cause (a batter) to whiff.
Origin:
1585–95; aspirated var. of ME weffe whiff (of steam or vapor)

Related forms:
whiffer, noun
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whiff

2  [hwif, wif]
–noun
any of several flatfishes having both eyes on the left side of the head, of the genus Citharichthys, as C. cornutus (horned whiff), inhabiting Atlantic waters from New England to Brazil.

Origin:
1705–15; orig. uncert.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To whiff
whiff   (hwĭf, wĭf)   
n.  

  1. A slight, gentle gust of air; a waft: a whiff of cool air.

    1. A brief, passing odor carried in the air: a whiff of perfume.

    2. A minute trace: "Humanity is unregenerable and hates the language of conformity, since conformity has a whiff of the inhuman about it" (Anthony Burgess).

  3. An inhalation, as of air or smoke: Take a whiff of this pipe.

  4. Baseball A strikeout.

v.   whiffed, whiff·ing, whiffs

v.   intr.

  1. To be carried in brief gusts; waft: puffs of smoke whiffing from the chimney.

  2. Sports To swing at and miss a ball or puck.

  3. Baseball To strike out. Used of a batter.

v.   tr.

  1. To blow or convey in whiffs.

  2. To inhale through the nose; sniff: a dog whiffing the air.

  3. Baseball To strike out (a batter).


[Perhaps alteration of Middle English weffe, offensive smell.]
whiff'er n.
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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Word Origin & History

whiff 
13c., weffe "foul scent or odor," of imitative origin. Modern form became popular late 16c. with tobacco smoking, probably influenced by whiffle "blow in gusts or puffs" (1568). The verb in the baseball slang sense "to swing at a ball and miss" first recorded 1913.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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