| 释义 |
▪ I. poof, n.1 slang.|pʊf, puːf|
Also pooff, pouf, etc.
[Prob. a corruption of puff (see puff n. 8 d).]
An effeminate man, a male homosexual; a man who acts or speaks in an affected manner. Also attrib. Similarly poove |puːv| n.; also as v. intr., to act like a poof, to speak or behave in an effeminate or affected manner; pooved-up ppl. a.
Often considered offensive.
c1850–60in G. R. Taylor Angel-Makers (1958) iv. 80 These monsters in the shape of men, commonly designated Margeries, Pooffs, &c. 1932Auden Orators iii. 98 Poofs and ponces, All of them dunces. 1951I. Shaw Troubled Air xvi. 272 Don't be a traitorous old poof. 1952A. Wilson Hemlock & After ii. 37 ‘Bloody little pouff,’ said Ron aloud. 1955‘C. H. Rolph’ Women of Streets x. 131 Although I never met any who lived with male homosexuals, several..girls..referred to other prostitutes living with ‘pouffs’ who reciprocally kept them by their earnings when necessary. 1955G. Greene Quiet American iv. ii. 241 He made a feeble attempt to mock my accent. ‘You all talk like poufs. You're so damned superior.’ 1959C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 51 The Hoplite has been in business with some of the city's top poof raves. 1962Private Eye 30 Nov. 15/3, I may be a poove but I'm a terrific engineer. 1964New Statesman 6 Mar. 374/1 We have a pooved-up tenor introducing a parade of Variety Girls. 1967J. Rathbone Diamonds Bid xiii. 116 ‘Do you remember meeting Stephen Hamilton-Rose..?’ ‘A fat poove?’ I asked. 1968A. Diment Gt. Spy Race iii. xi. 206 The woolly-headed pooves in the widely various Ministry of Defence networks are all completely mad with jealousy. 1968Listener 19 Sept. 372/3 On the first occasion the loved object..was an able-bodied seaman,..who never manifested the slightest interest in girls but who nevertheless was totally remote from the world of pansies, pouffs and queans. 1971F. Forsyth Day of Jackal xx. 336 You bloody pooves make me sick. 1971Melody Maker 9 Oct. 11/1 He reckoned they pooved around a little, but commented that..their music wasn't all that rough after all. 1974J. Betjeman Nip in Air 45 Touching the little children, better pooves Or murderers, they said. 1975J. Symons Three Pipe Problem ix. 60 It's some poove who's been done, named Sonny Halliwell. 1976A. Richards Former Miss Merthyr Tydfil 14 A young man..had been heard in the showers to refer to Elgar as ‘a bit of a pouf’. 1977W. McIlvanney Laidlaw xxviii. 128 Harry Rayburn's a poof... Whit's a poof doin' wi' a lassie? 1978R. Rendell Sleeping Life xiii. 109 All you can do is get your picture in the papers like some poove of a film actor.
Hence ˈpoofdom nonce, the state or condition of being a homosexual.
1972F. Raphael April, June & Nov. 466 He's a late convert to the joys of poofdom.
▪ II. poof, int. and n.2|pʊf|
Also pouf, pouff.
[A natural utterance. Cf. F. pouf.]
A. int. A sound imitating a short sharp puff of the breath as in blowing something from the mouth, or blowing out a candle; hence an expression of contemptuous rejection: cf. pooh int.
1824J. Morier Adventures Hajji Baba II. i. 39 Putting up her five fingers to his face, she said, ‘Poof! I spit on such a face.’ 1829G. Griffin Collegians I. viii. 159 Gi' me the hat, sir, an' I'll hang it up—poof, it's full of dust. 1857W. Collins Dead Secret ii. iii, Pouf! the very anticipation of them [clouds of dust] chokes me already. 1862H. Marryat Year in Sweden II. 55 As for the others, poof! 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. ii, Call that a quantity..Poof! What do you say to the rest of it? 1868Yates Rock Ahead i. iv, ‘She will go out like that—pouf!’..blowing out an imaginary candle in explanation. 1905E. Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 62 ‘Pouff!’ I said, and I pointed at him. 1921H. Williamson Beautiful Yrs. 80 ‘Pouff, what a lot of rot,’ scoffed Willie. 1935M. de la Roche Young Renny x. 82 Pouf! You don't know anything. 1949P. Hastings Cases in Court v. 281 He said the three shots were fired in rapid succession or, as he put it somewhat dramatically, ‘pouf, pouf, pouf’. 1951M. Kennedy Lucy Carmichael ii. i. 88, I get quite interested..for about 5 minutes and then—poof! I go flat like a burst balloon. 1968C. M. Vines Little Nut-Brown Man xiii. 237 ‘Pouf!’ he said when he had recovered from choking, ‘supposing I had been dead before the water got here?’ 1974S. Coulter Chateau ii. xii. 359 Oh, pouff! Bravado, Madame. Sheer bravado. 1979J. Rathbone Euro-Killers v. 55 Poof! Rubbish! This is some ruse.
B. as n. An utterance of ‘poof’; a short sharp puff.
1908Westm. Gaz. 25 May 5/2, I was riding on the back of the balloon..when suddenly I heard a ‘pouff’, as if someone had blown a blast from a bellows. 1915D. H. Lawrence Rainbow vi. 148 She burst into a ‘Pouf’ of ridiculing laughter. 1951Koestler Age of Longing ii. iv. 242 Father Millet..gave a scornful poof. 1971B. Malamud Tenants 68 [He] left so cleanly,..it seemed to Lesser as though he had willed his disappearance in a prestidigitated poof. 1973J. Mckelvey Man against Tsetse iii. 196 Refinements on the use of a dash of poison now go well beyond a squirt of spray or a poof of dust to the habitat of the fly.
▪ III. poof, v. colloq.|pʊf|
Also pouff.
[f. poof int.]
intr. a. To blow up, to peter out. Also refl.
1915N.Y. World Mag. 9 May 14 Pooff, to blow up. 1923Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves xviii. 242 The fact is, I suppose, I'd seen so many of young Bingo's love affairs start off with a whoop and a rattle and poof themselves out half-way down the straight that I couldn't believe he had actually brought it off at last. 1934― Right Ho, Jeeves xxi. 231 Then the dialogue sort of poofed out once more, and we stood eating cheese straws and cold eggs respectively in silence.
b. To utter a ‘poof’. rare.
1915D. H. Lawrence Rainbow vi. 148 Again she poufed with mockery. |