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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



... thumped loudly on the fir boards. A silence that was like a swound fell on the instant, and the light within went out at a puff. For a moment it seemed as if our notion of occupancy and light and lament had been a delusion, for now the grave itself was no ...
— John Splendid - The Tale of a Poor Gentleman, and the Little Wars of Lorn • Neil Munro
... in the bottom he made a clutch— A heart or a puff-ball of sin? Eaten with moths, and fretted with rust, He grasped but a handful of dry-rotted dust: It was a horrible thing to touch, But he hid it his ...
— Warlock o' Glenwarlock • George MacDonald
... more "duchessy" than ever in her dinner dress. Jewels shone in the great puff of snowy hair that lay like a crown about her head. (Graham had always wanted to poke his finger into this marvel to see if it would burst and flatten like a toy balloon.) Jewels shone in the laces of her dress and on her fingers. ...
— Highacres • Jane Abbott
... proposition; it's got to be thought out. Feelin's don't allers point the right trail to jedgment, an', as often as not, the blazes lead the wrong way. You're all right in your own way, Bob-Cat, but you're shy on roots, and your idees gets a windfall every time an extra puff comes along. You're like the trees settlers forgets about when they cuts on the outside of a forest ...
— The Boy With the U. S. Foresters • Francis Rolt-Wheeler
... east could be seen a great number of sailing-boats and steamers. Just at seven o'clock a great puff of white smoke broke out from the black side of the Invincible, which was carrying the admiral's flag, and even before the sound reached the ears of the little party on the hill similar bursts of smoke spurted out from the other vessels. Then came the deep ...
— A Chapter of Adventures • G. A. Henty


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