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puff

/pəf/

/pəf/

IPA guide

Other forms: puffed; puffing; puffs; puffingly

A puff is a wisp of air or a baked snack. A magician might disappear in a puff of smoke — the kind that happens when you blow out a candle, not the kind that’s made of cheese.

A puff of wind can spin a pinwheel or send a kite bobbing higher in the sky, and a tired runner's breath comes in puffs. There’s also the kind of puff that's inflated or stuffed and soft, like a puff of hair on grandma's head, a powder puff, or puff pastry, which is a thin, buttery dough that puffs up as it's baked. The Old English root is the imitative pyffan, "to blow with the mouth."

Definitions of puff
  1. noun
    a short light gust of air
    synonyms: puff of air, whiff
    see moresee less
    type of:
    blast, blow, gust
    a strong current of air
  2. noun
    a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)
    synonyms: drag, pull
    see moresee less
    types:
    toke
    a puff of a marijuana or hashish cigarette
    type of:
    aspiration, breathing in, inhalation, inspiration, intake
    the act of inhaling; the drawing in of air (or other gases) as in breathing
  3. noun
    forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth
    synonyms: blow
    see moresee less
    types:
    insufflation
    an act of blowing or breathing on or into something
    type of:
    breathing out, exhalation, expiration
    the act of expelling air from the lungs
  4. verb
    breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
    synonyms: gasp, heave, pant
    see moresee less
    type of:
    blow
    exhale hard
  5. verb
    suck in or take (air)
    synonyms: drag, draw
    see moresee less
    type of:
    breathe in, inhale, inspire
    draw in (air)
  6. verb
    smoke and exhale strongly
    puff a cigar”
    synonyms: whiff
    see moresee less
    type of:
    smoke
    inhale and exhale smoke from cigarettes, cigars, pipes
  7. verb
    blow hard and loudly
    synonyms: chuff, huff
    see moresee less
    type of:
    blow
    exhale hard
  8. noun
    a light inflated pastry or puff shell
    see moresee less
    types:
    chou, cream puff
    puff filled with cream or custard
    eclair
    an oblong cream puff
    type of:
    pastry
    any of various baked foods made of dough or batter
  9. noun
    exaggerated praise (as for promotional purposes)
    see moresee less
    type of:
    good word, recommendation, testimonial
    something that recommends (or expresses commendation of) a person or thing as worthy or desirable
  10. verb
    praise extravagantly
    “The critics puffed up this Broadway production”
    synonyms: puff up
    see moresee less
    type of:
    praise
    express approval of
  11. verb
    make proud or conceited
    “The sudden fame puffed her ego”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    elate, intoxicate, lift up, pick up, uplift
    fill with high spirits; fill with optimism
  12. noun
    bedding made of two layers of cloth filled with stuffing and stitched together
    synonyms: comfort, comforter, quilt
    see moresee less
    types:
    continental quilt, duvet, eiderdown
    a soft quilt usually filled with the down of the eider
    patchwork, patchwork quilt
    a quilt made by sewing patches of different materials together
    crazy quilt
    a patchwork quilt without a design
    type of:
    bed clothing, bedclothes, bedding
    coverings that are used on a bed
  13. noun
    a soft spherical object made from fluffy fibers; for applying powder to the skin
    synonyms: powderpuff
    see moresee less
    type of:
    pad
    a flat mass of soft material used for protection, stuffing, or comfort
  14. noun
    thick cushion used as a seat
    synonyms: hassock, ottoman, pouf, pouffe
    see moresee less
    type of:
    seat
    furniture that is designed for sitting on
  15. verb
    speak in a blustering or scornful manner
    “A puffing kind of man”
  16. verb
    to swell or cause to enlarge, "Her faced puffed up from the drugs"
    puffed out chests”
    synonyms: blow up, puff out, puff up
    see moresee less
    type of:
    intumesce, swell, swell up, tumefy, tumesce
    expand abnormally
  17. adjective
    gathered for protruding fullness
    puff sleeves”
    synonyms: puffed
    fancy
    not plain; decorative or ornamented
Pronunciation
US

/pəf/

UK

/pəf/

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