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puff - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'puff' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Puff [ a.]
- Puffed up; vain.
2 . Puff [ n.]
- A sudden and single emission of breath from the mouth; hence, any sudden or short blast of wind; a slight gust; a whiff.
- Anything light and filled with air.
- A puffball.
- a kind of light pastry.
- A utensil of the toilet for dusting the skin or hair with powder.
- An exaggerated or empty expression of praise, especially one in a public journal.
- To blow in puffs, or with short and sudden whiffs.
- To blow, as an expression of scorn; -- with at.
- To breathe quick and hard, or with puffs, as after violent exertion.
- To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated.
- To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner; hence, to assume importance.
3 . Puff [ v. t.]
- To drive with a puff, or with puffs.
- To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously.
- To cause to swell or dilate; to inflate; to ruffle with puffs; -- often with up; as, a bladder puffed with air.
- To inflate with pride, flattery, self-esteem, or the like; -- often with up.
- To praise with exaggeration; to flatter; to call public attention to by praises; to praise unduly.

Meaning of 'puff' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . puff [ n]
Meaning (1):
- forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth
Example in sentence:
  • he blew out all the candles with a single puff;
  • he gave his nose a loud blow
Meaning (2):
- a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)
Example in sentence:
  • he took a drag on his cigarette and expelled the smoke slowly;
  • he took a puff on his pipe
3 . puff [ v]
Meaning (3):
- speak in a blustering or scornful manner
Example in sentence:
  • A puffing kind of man
Meaning (4):
- suck in or take (air)
Example in sentence:
  • draw a deep breath;
  • draw on a cigarette
Meaning (5):
- blow hard and loudly
Example in sentence:
  • he huffed and puffed as he made his way up the mountain
Meaning (6):
- to swell or cause to enlarge
Example in sentence:
  • Her faced puffed up from the drugs;
  • puffed out chests
Meaning (7):
- smoke and exhale strongly
Example in sentence:
  • puff a cigar;
  • whiff a pipe
Meaning (8):
- praise extravagantly
Example in sentence:
  • The critics puffed up this Broadway production
Meaning (9):
- breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
Example in sentence:
  • The runners reached the finish line, panting heavily
Meaning (10):
- make proud or conceited
Example in sentence:
  • The sudden fame puffed her ego
11 . puff [ s]
Meaning (11):
- gathered for protruding fullness
Example in sentence:
  • puff sleeves

Nearby Words:

puff-leg puff-legged puffball puffed puffer puffery puffin puffiness puffing puffingly

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