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单词 puff
释义

puffn.adj.

Brit. /pʌf/, U.S. /pəf/
Forms: late Old English ðyf (transmission error, see note below), Middle English pouf, Middle English þuffes (plural, transmission error), Middle English–1500s puf, Middle English–1600s puffe, Middle English– puff, 1500s poffe, 1500s (1800s English regional (Lincolnshire)) poff, 1500s–1700s pufe; Scottish pre-1700 pouffe, pre-1700 puffe, pre-1700 pwf, pre-1700 pwff, pre-1700 1700s– puff.
Origin: Either (i) formed within English, by conversion. Or (ii) an imitative or expressive formation. Etymon: puff v.
Etymology: Either < puff v. or an independent imitative formation. Compare Dutch puf action of saying ‘puff’, action of producing a puffing sound (1630), German Puff explosive sound, e.g. of a gunshot (14th cent. as puf, now rare).The meaningless Old English form ðyf (see quot. lOE at sense A. 1a) has been convincingly explained as a continuation of a scribal error, resulting from *þyf as a misreading for *pyf (compare Old English forms at puff v.) in a lost earlier recension; see further A. S. Napier in Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache u. Lit. 24 (1899) 245–6, E. G. Stanley in Eng. & Gmc. Stud. 6 (1957) 40. With sense A. 2a, compare Middle Low German puffe , poffe kind of bread (rare). With sense A. 8d compare earlier poof n.1 Some of the compounds in sections Compounds 1 and Compounds 2 may be formed on puff v.; with section Compounds 3 compare earlier puff paste n. Apparently also attested as a surname in early Middle English: Willelmus Puf (1174).
A. n.
1.
a. The action of puffing; a sudden brief burst of wind or expelled breath; an abrupt emission of air, vapour, or smoke. Also figurative.† by puffs: figurative by fits and starts, intermittently (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > puff of
pufflOE
breathc1400
fuff1535
whiff1603
whift1614
tifta1765
cat's paw1769
skift1808
flaff1827
skiff1827
whiffle1842
whisp1884
quiff1912
the world > life > the body > respiratory organs > breathing > exhalation > [noun]
pufflOE
fnastinga1382
pufta1425
blasting1535
outbreathing1574
efflation1578
expiration1603
perspiration1611
expiring1661
flatus1692
exhalation1742
utterance1844
poof1864
pew1932
the world > matter > gas > [noun] > fumes or vapour > action of being emitted or emitting > act of emitting abruptly
pufflOE
pufta1425
the world > matter > gas > air > moving air > [noun] > a movement of air > a blast or puff of air
blasta1000
pufflOE
huff1600
waft1650
waff1674
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xx. 47 Ac seo orso[r]hnes gæð scyrmælum swæðer windes ðyf [read pyf] [L. illam videas ventosam].
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 99 To wac ha is istrencðed. þet awindes Puf aword mei afallen.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 75/7 Te deofles puffes [?c1225 Cleo. þuffes], þet beoð temptatiuns.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 213 Þat tyme fruyt falliþ wiþ litil schakyng, as wiþ a strong blast or a puf of wynd.
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) C. f. 54v (MED) He..perceyuide be hise puffis [v.r. pous] he was in peril to deiȝe.
?a1475 (a1396) W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (Harl. 6579) ii. xviii. f. 80v A litel puf of wynde..suld sone keste hym doun.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 259/1 Puffe of wynde, boufflee.
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 435/1 It is not inough for a man to teache by puffes, but he must frame himself neuer to bee wearie in taking paines to edifie the Church of God.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 42 Eeche pipling puf doth amaze me.
1615 J. Taylor in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign James I (1848) 303 Jehovah with a puff was able To make ambitious Babel but a bable.
1668 J. Flavell Saint Indeed 86 Like a Candle blown out with a puff of breath.
1721 T. D'Urfey Two Queens Brentford Epil. I fizzle such small puffs of Wind.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VI. xxvii. 114 His first intention..was no more than giving the enemy a single puff or two.
1850 N. Hawthorne Scarlet Let. xiv. 205 As if the old man's soul were on fire, and kept on smouldering duskily within his breast, until, by some casual puff of passion, it was blown into a momentary flame.
1887 C. Bowen tr. Virgil Æneid iii, in tr. Virgil in Eng. Verse 165 Canvases heave and swell with the puff of the South wind gale.
1917 E. Wharton Summer xi. 155 Puffs of sultry air fanned her dimity window curtains.
1973 H. Brodkey in Amer. Rev. Feb. 16 When we looked at each other, there would be small, soft puffs of feeling.
1996 W. Boyd in H. Ritchie New Sc. Writing 38 There's a thin puff of bluey-grey smoke and the crane's motor chugs into life.
†b. An act of puffing out one's breath as an expression of contempt. Cf. puff int. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > [noun] > action of expressing contempt > vocally > specific utterance
blurt1579
puff1579
pish1593
pooh1593
tush1600
hiss1602
mew1606
pshaw1712
pooh pooh1798
poof1864
razoo1888
raspberry1890
razz1917
razzberry1920
Bronx cheer1929
big deal1949
1579 J. Baker in A. H. Smith et al. Papers N. Bacon of Stiffkey (1983) II. 92 I..delivered hym your letter, whoe made but a puffe at it as a thinge fained till I had related unto hym what I had lerned therein.
1598 R. Dallington View of Fraunce sig. Biv This is a better purchase then the Italian huffe of the shoulder, or the Dutch puffe with the pot, or the French apishnes, which many Trauellers bring home.
a1605 J. Stow Surv. of London (1908) I. Introd. p. lxv We aunswered it was by act of comon counsayle, whereat he made a pufe.
1629 J. Gaule Distractions 198 Nought but a glance, a puffe, a snuffe, a frown.
1696 J. Moore Banner of Corah, Dathan, & Abiram, Display'd 12 As if we did either stop our Ears at it, and so refuse to hear it, or by a careless slighting of it, make a puff at it.
c. The sound of a small abrupt or explosive emission of air; a similar short, explosive sound.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sudden or violent sound > explosive sound > [noun] > explosive emission of air
puff1606
whiff1712
fuff1804
whoof1866
boof1906
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 99 A wagging leafe, a puff [Fr. un vent], a crack, Yea, the least creake shall make thee turne thy back.
1752 H. ap D. Price Genuine Acct. Life & Trans. ix. 135 They saw nothing, only heard a Puff of Zenora's breath.
1827 J. Forbes tr. R. T. H. Laennec Treat. Dis. Chest (ed. 2) i. ii. vii. 335 The phenomenon which I have termed the auricular puff, simple or veiled,..frequently accompanies the cavernous respiration and cough.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxx. 411 [Walrus] rising at intervals through the ice in a body, and breaking it up with an explosive puff that might have been heard for miles.
1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 1021 This murmur..may be a short systolic ‘puff’ having a very limited area of audibility.
1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover ii. 11 She heard the rattle-rattle of the screens at the pit, the puff of the winding-engine, [etc.].
1994 Men's Health Jan. 28/2 The ball..lazily descended into the glove of the needlessly casual pitcher. There was a soft puff; then a thousand groans filled the night.
d. A small quantity of smoke, vapour, gas, powder, etc., such as might be emitted in one blast or burst; a small cloud, or cloud-like mass.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [noun] > fumes or vapour > puff of
puff1614
waft1896
1614 E. Grimeston tr. P. Matthieu Hist. Lewis XI iii. 77 He intreates and coniures him not to assist this new rebellion, the which like to a puffe of smoke would vanish as soone as it should begin to rise.
1663 J. Beale Let. 28 Sept. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) II. 127 I have oft-times observed athletic & sturdy persons, by a puffe of furious ayre, blasty vapour, or poisonous fog, & a distemper thereby willfully acquired..sent hastily to their graves.
1766 W. Hamilton Let. 10 June in Observ. Vesuvius (1772) 3 I perceived sometimes a puff of black smoke shoot up a considerable height.
1796 Count Rumford Exper. Ess. iv. 326 Those accidental puffs of smoke which are sometimes thrown into rooms by the carelessness of servants.
1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle's Log I. i. 39 A puff of white smoke, then another,..followed by thudding reports.
1839 tr. A. de Lamartine Trav. in East 12/1 Giving to the wind the puffs of smoke from their pipes of red clay.
1869 J. Phillips Vesuvius iv. 118 Puffs of vapour were rising at various points.
1906 J. Galsworthy Man of Prop. 68 A long soft ripple of wind flowed over the corn, and brought a puff of warm air into their faces.
1951 W. Styron Lie down in Darkness v. 225 Puffs of fog..arose from the bottoms to envelop the road in dangerous gray swirls.
1988 F. Weldon Leader of Band iv. 22 Jack came bounding along the corridor towards me (a puff of dust rising with every footfall).
2003 New Yorker 1 Dec. 89/1 It's a summer day with the same blue sky and unserious puffs of creamy cloud as on the postcards.
e. An act of drawing quickly on a pipe, cigarette, or cigar, or of exhaling smoke after so doing; (also) an act of inhaling medication from an inhaler.
ΚΠ
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 224 The pipe with solemn interposing puff, Makes half a sentence at a time enough.
1796 G. M. Woodward Eccentric Excurs. ii. 25 That he is happy, when seated with a friend facing the turnpike road, every puff from his pipe will testify.
1838 Times 7 Nov. 5/6 A large cigar that was presented to him; that was rather too much for him, as after a few puffs he became very pale and threw it away with much disgust.
1842 T. B. Macaulay Frederic the Great in Ess. (1887) 695 Between the puffs of the pipe.
1901 ‘G. Douglas’ House with Green Shutters xix. 197 Getting his match, he lit a cigarette; and when it was lit, after one quick puff, turned it swiftly round to examine its burning end.
1935 P. G. Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins xviii. 216 A certain brand of cigarette—one puff of which..will make a week-old corpse spring from its bier and dance the Carioca.
1966 Times (San Mateo, Calif.) 2 Mar. 47/4 If one takes more puffs [on an inhaler] than he is supposed to, he can absorb a poisonous dosage.
2000 S. Mackay Heligoland ii. 19 ‘If I could have a shot of your pipe?’ ‘A shot?’ Cliff took it from his mouth and examined it. ‘Oh, you mean a go, a puff. Well, why not.’
f. colloquial (originally British). Breath; available breath, the ability to breathe effectively; (in extended use) energy, stamina. out of puff: out of breath, exhausted.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > respiratory organs > breathing > [noun] > breath
ghosteOE
bleadc890
ethemeOE
windOE
fnastc1000
breathOE
blas?c1225
blasta1325
andec1330
respiration?a1425
breast1535
air1567
respirea1657
puff1827
1827 Sporting Mag. 21 137 Taking the puff out of most of the nags.
1860 Times 26 Dec. 9/5 I picked myself up quite out of puff, but not much injured.
1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting ix. 387 Sustaining three more savage charges, the last..far from pleasant, as my horse had all the puff taken out of him.
1919 ‘K. Mansfield’ Let. 13 Oct. (1993) III. 25 I get short of puff if I cough but my lungs don't hurt at all.
1977 D. Bagley Enemy ii. 14 I came off the [tennis] court out of puff.
1984 Observer 15 Apr. 27/5 Metal Box still has plenty of puff.
1986 Sunday Mail (Queensland) (Nexis) 5 Oct. [He] should have set a punishing pace on Daddy so that Vengeance would have had no puff left for a sprint at the end.
2006 Daily Mail (Nexis) 7 Apr. 68 The production does run out of puff in the last act—but then so does the operetta.
g. colloquial (originally and chiefly British). Life; span or length of life; esp. in in (all) one's (born) puff: in a person's experience, in all a person's life (chiefly in negative contexts).With in all one's born puff cf. one's born days at born adj. Phrases 8.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [adverb] > in one's life
all my (his, etc.) lifeOE
lifelong1868
in (all) one's (born) puff1872
the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > course or span of life
life-dayOE
year-daysOE
timeOE
dayOE
lifeOE
life's timeOE
livelihoodOE
yearOE
lifetimea1300
life-whilea1300
for (also to) term of (a person's) lifea1325
coursec1384
livingc1390
voyage1390
agea1398
life's dayc1425
thread1447
racea1450
living daysc1450
natural life1461
lifeness1534
twist1568
leasec1595
span1599
clew1615
marcha1625
peregrination1653
clue1684
stamen1701
life term1739
innings1772
lifelong1814
pass-through1876
inning1885
natural1891
life cycle1915
puff1967
1872 Entomologist's Monthly Mag. 9 141 I niver seed such an a [sic] beast afore i' all my puff.
1921 H. Jenkins Mrs. Bindle ii. 51 Never seen 'er so cheerio in all my puff.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xii. [Cyclops] 330 You never saw the like of it in all your born puff.
1929 P. G. Wodehouse Mr. Mulliner Speaking ix. 301 ‘Did you ever see a hat like that, Stinker?’ ‘Never in my puff,’ replied his friend.
1967 A. L. Lloyd Folk Song in Eng. iv. 226 Hannah Snell..served for years as a marine..took a public house in Wapping and wore trousers for the rest of her puff.
1998 A. Warner Sopranos 91 Manda Tassy, never seen a black and white movie in her puff.
h. U.S. Criminals' slang. Dynamite or other explosive material, esp. as used to open a safe. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > explosive material > [noun] > used for safe-breaking
puff1903
pete1931
1903 H. Hapgood Autobiogr. Thief xii. 285 Sammy was a good box-man. He never used puff (nitro-glycerine), but with a few tools opened the safes artistically.
1904 ‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing 251/1 Puff, explosive powder.
1926 J. Black You can't Win ix. 107 I always crush into these powder shacks for my ‘puff’.
1980 R. A. Bruns Knights of Road 93 The Safecracker... A knight of the puff and rod (powder and gun).
i. British slang. Marijuana.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a) narcotic drug(s) > marijuana or cannabis
bhang1598
hashish1598
cannabis1765
ganja1800
Indian hemp1803
sabzi1804
cannabin1843
deiamba1851
charas1860
liamba1861
hemp1870
cannabis resin1871
marijuana1874
kef1878
locoweed1898
weed1917
Mary Ann1925
mootah1926
muggle1926
Mary Jane1928
Mary Warner1933
Mary and Johnny1935
Indian hay1936
mu1936
mezz1937
moocah1937
grass1938
jive1938
pot1938
mary1940
reefer1944
rope1944
smoke1946
hash1948
pod1952
gear1954
green1957
smoking weed1957
boo1959
Acapulco1965
doobie1967
Mary J1967
cheeba1971
Maui Wowie1971
4201974
Maui1977
pakalolo1977
spliff1977
draw1979
kush1979
resin1980
bud1982
swag1986
puff1989
chronic1992
schwag1993
hydro1995
1989 K. Smith Inside Time 235 Puff, cannabis.
1992 R. Graef Living Dangerously v. 138 I'm not into drugs: just puff, trips, that's about it.
2002 C. Newland Snakeskin ix. 112 She was paranoid bad about her dad finding out she smoked puff.
2.
a. Any of various kinds of light pastry, cake, or confectionery; esp. a light pastry case, typically one made of puff pastry, containing a sweet or savoury filling. See also Compounds 3.Frequently with preceding word, as cream puff, etc.; for established compounds see the first element.In quot. 1419: a kind of light bread (cf. pain puff n. at pain n.2 Compounds).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > pastry > sweet or rich pastries > [noun]
puff1419
curd tart1594
baklava1650
petits choux1702
chou1706
pastry1708
millefeuille1733
pithivier1834
frangipane1844
apple strudel1850
cream puff1851
ensaimada1867
profiterole1884
Napoleon cake1892
strudel1893
milk tart1896
Napoleon1896
St. Honoré1907
cream horn1908
bear claw1915
butterhorn1920
churro1929
vanilla slice1930
Danish pastry1934
gur cake1936
rugelach1941
pain au chocolat1944
religieuse1954
Pop Tart1964
Napoleon pastry1969
1419 in H. T. Riley Munimenta Gildhallæ Londoniensis (1859) I. 353 (MED) Panis levis qui dicitur ‘pouf’ mercatoriis, debet esse de eodem bultello et pondere quo wastellus.
1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 36 'Tis fit to consider what Quelquechoses there are to be found,..which are..a Froize, and a Tansey; Custards, as good as any at my Lord Mayors Table; Chees-cakes, Puffes, [etc.].
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 5th Bk. Wks. xxvii. 132 They us'd to twist store of Holy-bread, Cakes, Buns, Puffs, Lenten-Loaves, Jumbals and Biscuits.
a1756 E. Haywood New Present (1771) 195 Lemon Puffs..Chocolate Puffs..Ratafia Puffs.
1769 E. Raffald Experienced Eng. House-keeper v. 142 To make German Puffs.
1797 R. Southey Lett. from Spain xiii. 236 The hostess there had just made some puffs, and begged me to eat one.
1824 M. Randolph Virginia House-wife 198 Strawberry jam..is very fine to mix with cream, for blanc mange, puffs, sweet-meat puddings &c.
a1845 T. Hood Sweets of Youth in Compl. Poet. Wks. (1906) 440 I used to revel in a pie, or puff.
1876 M. N. F. Henderson Pract. Cooking 71 Breakfast Puffs, or Pop-overs... May be baked in roll-pans.
1922 A. Jekyll Kitchen Ess. 113 Jam or spiced apple puffs, covered-in cheesecakes or mince pies, are an easy second course to serve and consume.
1969 R. Godden In this House of Brede xiii. 310 Apricot puffs and cheese were laid along the side tables.
2005 T. Aw Harmony Silk Factory i. viii. 92 They brought me warm bottles of Green Spot and stale curry puffs.
b. As a mass noun: puff pastry.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > pastry > [noun] > types of pastry
puff paste1598
bread pastea1654
wafer-paper1718
puff pastry1788
suet crust1809
pâte brisée1824
pasta frolla1848
chou pastry1892
puff1908
filo1946
shortcrust pastry1951
1908 Westm. Gaz. 15 Aug. 7/1 In pastry nothing is so heavy as puff that has failed.
1996 Good Food Easter (Cakes, Bread & Pastries Suppl.) 6/1 Rough puff is easy to make and promises layers of flaky buttery pastry.
3.
†a. A small vessel for sprinkling scent. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > fragrance > perfume making > [noun] > container
musk ball1423
puff1436
casting-glass1544
perfuming pan1558
perfumer1591
pouncet-box1598
perfumier1601
sweet-bag1615
casting-bottle1638
perfuming pota1650
musk bag1687
smelling-bottle1722
scent-bottle1765
scent box1777
vinaigrette1811
scent jar1813
scent bag1816
scent ball1832
pouncet1843
scent casket1845
pot-pourri jar1848
cassolette1851
scent sachet1856
scent spray1858
lavender drawer1863
lavender bag1865
odorator1890
pot-pourri bowl1904
lavender sachet1938
1436 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1855) II. 15 (MED) Unum puff argenti pro aqua rosarum spargenda.
b. A small instrument resembling a bellows, for blowing cosmetic powder on to the hair. Now historical and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > [noun] > instrument used to apply > instrument used to apply powder
puffc1651
powder puff1678
powdering puff1699
pluff1714
puff1732
puffball1821
powder rag1878
puffer1971
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > implements used in styling the hair > [noun] > implement for powdering
puffc1651
powder puff1841
c1651 R. Verney in M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family Commonwealth (1894) ii. 38 Muske for powder, ciprus Powder, and a Puffe.
1658 Songs Costume (Percy Soc.) 163 To eject powder in your hayre, Here is a pritty puff.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 478. ⁋13 On the other [side], Powder Baggs, Puffs, Combs and Brushes.
1800 W. Herschel in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 90 444 I examined the focus of light, by throwing hair-powder, with a puff, into the air.
1979 A. Buck Dress in 18th Cent. Eng. vi. 167 The [hair] powder was pulverized rice starch, scented, put on with a large puff or blower, and a powdering gown was worn during the operation.
c. A fluffy pad or loose wad of material for applying cosmetic or medicinal powder (in later use also lotion, etc.). Cf. powder puff n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > [noun] > instrument used to apply > instrument used to apply powder
puffc1651
powder puff1678
powdering puff1699
pluff1714
puff1732
puffball1821
powder rag1878
puffer1971
1732 B. Franklin Celia Single 24 July in Papers (1959) I. 242 Pray, says she, (somewhat fiercely, and dashing the Puff into the Powder-Box) don't.
1782 J. Stewart Plocacosmos iii. 265 You must have your soft pomatum and powder placed conveniently by your side, with a swan-down puff, and large silk puff.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 648 The pediculus pubis is best destroyed by calomel mixed with starch powder, and applied by a down puff.
1908 Lady 10 Dec. 1106/3 ‘Beauty Box’ containing..one box of face powder, with swansdown puff,..is sent post free.
1932 New Yorker 11 June 43 It isn't a compact at all,..it's loose powder, packed very tightly under fine net, so that a liberal quantity emerges when you press the puff against it.
1970 G. Hall Beauty for Girls who are getting On iii. 45 Dip the clean puff in the powder.
1998 Daily Tel. 15 Aug. 88/5 Use a drop of this pleasantly scented soap-free wash with supplied puff..to cleanse your whole body.
4.
a. A swelling, a bulge; a swollen, inflated, or distended mass of something; †a tumour or tumour-like growth, an excrescence (obsolete). Also: a clump or bunch resembling a plume of smoke, cloud, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > swelling > [noun] > a swelling or protuberance
ampereOE
kernelc1000
wenc1000
knot?c1225
swella1250
bulchc1300
bunchc1325
bolninga1340
botcha1387
bouge1398
nodusa1400
oedemaa1400
wax-kernel14..
knobc1405
nodule?a1425
more?c1425
bunnyc1440
papa1450
knurc1460
waxing kernel?c1460
lump?a1500
waxen-kernel1500
bump1533
puff1538
tumour?1541
swelling1542
elevation1543
enlarging1562
knub1563
pimple1582
ganglion1583
button1584
phyma1585
emphysema?1587
flesh-pimple1587
oedem?a1591
burgeon1597
wartle1598
hurtle1599
pough1601
wart1603
extumescence1611
hulch1611
peppernel1613
affusion1615
extumescency1684
jog1715
knibloch1780
tumefaction1802
hunch1803
income1808
intumescence1822
gibber1853
tumescence1859
whetstone1886
tumidity1897
Osler's node1920
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Hecta,..a lyttelle puffe, whiche riseth in breadde whanne it is baken.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Clauus,..also puffes growing in the stemmis of great trees.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xvii. 76 The vehement vpright wrastling..taketh awaie fatnesse, puffes, and swellinges.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 539 Oliue..hath another greefe and sorance called in Latin Clavus, Fungus or Patella (i. a Knur, Puffe, Meazil or Blister).
1676 A. Marvell Mr. Smirke sig. D3 Having thus plumed him of that puffe of Feathers, with which he buoy'd himself up in the Aire.
1715 N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture I. vi. 6 The straightness of its veins shews the Iron to be without knots, puffs or flaws.
1743 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman (Dublin ed.) May vii. 94 It will surely hove the Cheese into a Puff, and spoil it.
1748 tr. Vegetius Of Distempers Horses 190 Oftentimes in the knees or joints there arises either a Phlegmon, or Marbles, or Puffs, or Wind-galls.
1820 M. Edgeworth Let. 3 May in M. Edgeworth in France & Switzerland (1979) 114 Lilac—little smell—vast puffs of flowers.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 59 Men and women alike wear armlets, and in..the women..you see puffs of flesh growing out from between them.
1937 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 4 July Her bright eyes, almost submerged in puffs of flesh, were most friendly.
1980 B. Okri Flowers & Shadows i. 9 But for the puffs under her eyes and the lines on her mahogany-complexioned face, she could easily have passed for an ageing model.
1995 Southern Living Aug. (Southeast Regional ed.) 2 md/2 There are butterfly bushes..and Lady Baltimore hibiscus as tall as trees, with cotton candy puffs of pink blossoms.
b. A rounded mass of material such as may be formed by gathering in the edges tightly, or (in Needlework, Knitting, etc.) by the pattern of the stitches. Also: a decorative bunch of ribbons, etc., arranged in a similar manner. Cf. pouf n. 2a.In quot. 1908: = puff sleeve n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > trimmings or ornamentation > puff
puffing1593
puff1601
puffery1859
bouillon1869
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > covering spec parts of body > arm > types of
poke1402
foresleeve1538
long sleeve1538
lumbard1542
puller out1543
maunch1550
hand sleeve1585
French sleeve1592
poke sleeve1592
puff1601
trunk sleeve1603
stock-sleeve1611
hoop-sleeve1614
puff sleevec1632
short sleeve1639
hanging sleeve1659
engageants1690
jockey-sleeve1692
pudding-sleeve1704
Amadis1814
gigot1824
leg of mutton1824
bishop sleeve1829
mutton-leg sleeve1830
balloon sleeve1837
gigot-sleeve1837
bag-sleeve1844
pagoda sleeve1850
mameluke sleeve1853
angel sleeve1859
elbow-sleeve1875
sling-sleeve1888
sleevelet1889
pagoda1890
bell-sleeve1892
kimono sleeve1919–20
dolman1934
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > accessories worn in the hair > [noun] > ribbons
stringa1400
puff1601
hair-ribbon1790
follow-me-lads1862
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > other specific styles of hair
roll1538
puff1601
Tuscan-top1602
cock-up1692
turban1727
bird's nest1730
rooter1840
coxcomb1843
roach1872
flop1900
Buster Brown1904
peppercorn1910
upsweep1946
bouffant1955
beehive1960
Prince Valiant1964
blow-dry1966
Mary Stuart1966
bouffy1970
Mohawk haircut1979
Mohican1983
fauxhawk2000
1601 J. Marston et al. Iacke Drums Entertainm. i. sig. A4v Nor do I enuy Poliphemia puffes, Swizars slopt greatnes.
1606 G. Chapman Sir Gyles Goosecappe iii. sig. E4v See my wife..Busied to starch her french purles, and her puffs.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 169 They weare great large puffed breeches, gathered close aboue the knees, and each puffe made of a diuers light colour.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 98/1 Half Sleeves..are made..with Puffs, or ruffled in the turn-up.
1729 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) I. 244 Her lappets tied with puffs of scarlet ribbon.
1735 S.-Carolina Gaz. 3 May 2/2 He..had on an old pair of broad Cloth Breeches with blue puffs.
1789 A. Young Jrnl. 13 Nov. in Trav. France (1792) i. 233 Their dress is very becoming; with jackets, the sleeves puckered and tied in puffs, with coloured ribbons.
c1828 J. R. Planché Green-eyed Monster 8 Leno slip, over white satin, ornamented with leno puffs of white and pink.
1860 Illustr. London News 26 May 510/2 Bonnets..with velvet flowers and delicious puffs, composed of a mass of small feathers.
1884 B. Potter Jrnl. 2 Apr. (1966) 78 Tight long sleeves with puffs to put on over them.
1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xi. 114 They all had puffed sleeves... It was awfully hard there among the others who had really truly puffs.
1925 Woman's World (Chicago) Apr. 38/2 Every half inch a small square is left without the stitches, which gives the effect of tiny round puffs standing out in relief on the white square.
1981 A. Stearns Batsford Bk. Crochet ii. 34 (caption) Puffs and bobbles (i.e. several stitches worked into one stitch and held together with one stitch).
2006 Sun (Nexis) 30 Jan. Puffs or bows around the top of the sleeve will help to make her shoulders appear wider.
c. A rounded shape formed by tresses of hair fastened into a roll or rolls (cf. pouf n. 1b). Later also: any puffed-out part of a person's hair.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > coil or knot of hair
bob1688
chignon1783
puff1839
krobylos1850
cadogan1852
waterfall1859
cob1865
roly-poly1866
Grecian coil1874
Psyche knot1874
catogan1885
coil1888
pouf1893
bun1894
French roll1910
neck-roll1920
Grecian knot1931
1839 C. M. Kirkland New Home xvii. 112 The fair hair was decorated, not covered, with a cap..placed far behind the ears, and displaying the largest puffs, set off by sundry gilt combs.
1891 A. M. Bacon Japanese Girls & Women v. 119 The marumagi, the style of headdress of married ladies, consisting of a large puff of hair on the top of the head.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 20 Sept. 3/2 The beautifully arranged forehead puff that almost all Parisians affect.
1941 J. Agee & W. Evans Let us now praise Famous Men 436 Her dark blond hair is newly washed and professionally done up in puffs at the ears which in that time..were called cootie garages.
1996 R. Mistry Fine Balance (1997) iv. 172 Got fed up with complaining customers. Too short, too long, puff not big enough, sideburns not wide enough, [etc.].
d. North American regional (chiefly New England). A lightweight bed-covering filled with down, etc.; a quilted coverlet or duvet.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > household linen > bedclothes > [noun] > outer cover > quilt > types of
leatherdoom1702
duvet1759
eiderdown1872
futon1875
plumeau1875
crazy quilt1886
puff1894
puffin1959
continental quilt1969
Doona1973
quillow1989
1862 Ladies' Repository Apr. 238/2 I wish to make two good puff bed-quilts before Winter.
1894 Fitchburg (Mass.) Daily Sentinel 19 Dec. 4/7 (advt.) Down puffs in a variety of patterns.
1939 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Ingleside viii. 52 Mrs Parker considerately left a candle with him and a warm puff, for the July night was unreasonably cold.
1976 New Yorker 3 May 40/1 I'll say one thing about that old puff... I spent many a night of our marriage sewing the panels where they were ripped.
2003 N.Y. Law Jrnl. (Nexis) 24 Dec. 23 The buyer..stated that she would rather sell it [sc. the fabric sample] as a quilt instead of as a puff.
†e. = pouf n. 3. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > support or rest > [noun] > cushion > floor cushion
boss1694
floor cushion1839
puff1877
zabuton1879
pouf1884
beanbag1969
Sagbag1974
1877 H. James American xii. 195 Valentin was sitting on a puff.
1877 H. James American xii. 206 She gave a little push to the puff that stood near her, and by a glance at Newman seemed to indicate that she had placed it in position for him.
f. Cell Biology. A transient expansion of a region of a polytene chromosome associated with RNA synthesis. Cf. puffed adj. 2d, puffing n.2 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > chromosome > part or section
satellite1921
trabant1926
secondary constriction1932
puff1936
microsatellite1962
pseudogene1977
1936 Science 28 Feb. 210/2 The whole region of this bulb has undergone changes in the Bar chromosome as follows: the ‘puff’ of the bulbous segment is more pronounced and its size is increased; [etc.].
1974 Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quantitative Biol. 38 660/2 Puffs result from the accumulation of RNA and proteins at a band which is being transcribed.
2004 Molecular & Cell. Biol. 24 1470/2 Upon heat shock, robust transcription of the hsp70 genes produces a defined structural domain of decondensation, referred to as a puff.
g. Originally U.S. A rounded or gathered mass of material (now usually net or mesh fabric) with an attached handle or string loop, used in the bath or shower for scrubbing and washing the skin. Frequently in bath puff, shower puff.
ΚΠ
1960 Fresno (Calif.) Bee 20 Dec. 10 a (caption) Soft lambs wool bath puff..has crystal clear plastic handle to make it easy to reach back and shoulders.
1995 Orange County (Calif.) Register (Nexis) 23 Aug. c1 Consumers..are snapping up bath accessories ranging from shower puffs and bath salts to body scrubs and rubber duckies.
2002 D. Irons Teen Beauty Secrets xv. 178 Get rid of them [sc. ingrown hairs] by scrubbing the area with a mesh shower puff.
2005 Derby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 30 Nov. 10 It comes in a woven basket and contains moisturising shower gel, cream bath, body lotion, body scrub and cotton woven puff.
†5.
a. A kind of fungus: = puffball n. 1a. Obsolete (English regional in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > puff-ball
wolf's-fista1300
puckfistc1300
puff1538
earth-puff1585
foist1593
fist1597
fuzz-ball1597
puff-fist1597
bunt1601
fuzz1601
bullfist1611
mully-puff1629
fist-ball1635
puffball1649
puck-ball1730
puffin1755
lycoperdon1756
frog cheese1766
puck1766
fuzzy-ballc1850
ball smut1925
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Tuber, a puffe growyng on the ground lyke a musherone or spunge.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iii. i. 313 The rootes be round and swollen like to a Puffe or Turnep.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 133 All the sort of those Puffes and Toadstooles.
1716 W. Salmon tr. Pharmacopoeia Londinensis (ed. 8) i. 52/2 Fungus, Toadstool, (the Puffs, Lupi crepitus).
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II Puff, a puff-ball.
1922 E. W. Swanton Fungi & how to know Them (ed. 2) i. v. 34 Puff-balls were at one time extensively used in rural districts as styptics... I was recently told by an old Sussex labourer that he always kept a few ripe ‘puffs’ in his cottage for this purpose.
†b. A kind of apple: = puffin n.2 2. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > apple > [noun] > eating-apple > types of
costardc1390
bitter-sweet1393
Queening?1435
richardine?1435
blaundrellc1440
pear apple1440
tuberc1440
quarrendenc1450
birtle1483
deusan1570
apple-john1572
Richard1572
lording1573
greening1577
queen apple1579
peeler1580
darling1584
doucin1584
golding1589
puffin1589
lady's longing1591
bitter-sweeting1597
pearmain1597
paradise apple1598
garden globe1600
gastlet1600
leather-coat1600
maligar1600
pome-paradise1601
French pippin1629
gillyflower1629
king apple1635
lady apple1651
golden pippin1654
goldling1655
puff1655
cardinal1658
green fillet1662
chestnut1664
cinnamon apple1664
fenouil1664
go-no-further1664
Westbury apple1664
seek-no-farther1670
nonsuch1676
calville1691
passe-pomme1691
fennel apple1699
queen1699
genet1706
fig-apple1707
oaken pin1707
nonpareil1726
costing1731
monstrous reinette1731
Newtown pippin1760
Ribston1782
Rhode Island greening1795
oslin1801
fall pippin1803
monstrous pippin1817
Newtown Spitzenburg1817
Gravenstein1821
Red Astrachan1822
Tolman sweet1822
grange apple1823
orange pippin1823
Baldwin1826
Sturmer Pippin1831
Newtowner1846
Northern Spy1847
Blenheim Orange1860
Cox1860
McIntosh Red1876
Worcester1877
raspberry apple1894
delicious1898
Laxton's Superb1920
Macoun1924
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > apple > eating-apple > types of
costardc1390
bitter-sweet1393
pippin?1435
pomewater?1435
Queening?1435
richardine?1435
blaundrellc1440
pear apple1440
tuberc1440
quarrendenc1450
birtle1483
sweeting1530
pomeroyal1534
renneta1568
deusan1570
apple-john1572
Richard1572
lording1573
russeting1573
greening1577
queen apple1579
peeler1580
reinette1582
darling1584
doucin1584
golding1589
puffin1589
lady's longing1591
bitter-sweeting1597
pearmain1597
paradise apple1598
garden globe1600
gastlet1600
leather-coat1600
maligar1600
pomeroy1600
short-start1600
jenneting1601
pome-paradise1601
russet coat1602
John apple1604
honey apple1611
honeymeal1611
musk apple1611
short-shank1611
spice apple1611
French pippin1629
king apple1635
lady apple1651
golden pippin1654
goldling1655
puff1655
cardinal1658
renneting1658
green fillet1662
chestnut1664
cinnamon apple1664
fenouil1664
go-no-further1664
reinetting1664
Westbury apple1664
seek-no-farther1670
nonsuch1676
white-wining1676
russet1686
calville1691
fennel apple1699
queen1699
genet1706
fig-apple1707
oaken pin1707
musk1708
nonpareil1726
costing1731
monstrous reinette1731
Newtown pippin1760
Ribston1782
Rhode Island greening1795
oslin1801
wine apple1802
fall pippin1803
monstrous pippin1817
Newtown Spitzenburg1817
Gravenstein1821
Red Astrachan1822
Tolman sweet1822
grange apple1823
orange pippin1823
Baldwin1826
wine-sap1826
Jonathan1831
Sturmer Pippin1831
rusty-coat1843
Newtowner1846
Northern Spy1847
Cornish gilliflowerc1850
Blenheim Orange1860
Cox1860
nutmeg pippin1860
McIntosh Red1876
Worcester1877
raspberry apple1894
delicious1898
Laxton's Superb1920
Melba apple1928
Melba1933
Mutsu1951
Newtown1953
discovery1964
1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. xxii. 196 Apples be so divers of form and substance..; some consist more of aire then water, as your Puffs called mala pulmonea.
6.
a. An empty or idle boast; bombast, inflation of style, ‘hot air’; vanity, pride; showy adornment. Cf. huff and puff at huff n. 1. Now rare or passing into sense A. 6b. †in full puff: elaborately dressed or equipped, ‘in full fig’ (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > flashiness or gaudiness > [noun] > instance or example of
painted sheath1542
puff1567
wonderclout1570
snobbery1866
plush horse1891
tartine1907
dog's dinner1996
the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > [noun] > a boast
roosec1175
avauntc1380
advancement?a1400
vauntise1477
vousta1500
puff1567
rodomontade1591
flourish1592
rodomontado1598
vauntc1600
vauntery1603
vapour1631
fanfaronade1652
gasconado1658
blow1684
gab1737
vaunting1793
windy1933
line-shoot1941
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [noun] > inflated or bombastic style > bombast
thundering1564
bombast1589
fustiana1593
taratantara1599
bombard-phrasea1637
heroics1638
bombacea1661
rant1662
Lexiphanicism1767
streperosity1772
puff1821
taffeta1821
polyphloisboioism1823
flabbergast1831
highfalutin1847
highfalutination1858
carmagnole1860
Barnumism1862
ballyhoo1901
1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. Aiijv Put out no puffes, nor thwackyng words.
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xiv. x. 22 The huffing puffes of stoutness and pride.
1631 S. Jerome Arraignem. Whole Creature xix. 331 The Idolatrous Philistins..all in their Puffe, and Iollity, swelling with pompe and pride.
1680 H. More Apocalypsis Apocalypseos 250 A blind puff of pride and vanity of Mind.
1747 Fool (1748) II. 166 It's all Puff, he has but a very indifferent Person.
1774 ‘A Lady’ South Briton i. 16 Sir Terence is just gone to him in full puff, sure enough.
1805 C. Wilmot Let. 31 Aug. in M. Wilmot & C. Wilmot Russ. Jrnls. (1934) ii. 177 I drove in full puff off to the Palace.
1814 Sporting Mag. 43 93 A real or pretended challenge..generally believed, however, to be mere puff.
1821 T. Arnold Let. 25 Apr. in A. P. Stanley Life & Corr T. Arnold (1844) I. 61 Any thing like puff, or verbal ornament, I cannot bring myself to.
1856 Times 10 Sept. 10/2 There were 40 gilt carriages,..guards of the élite, Court officers in full puff, &c.
1989 Time Out 18 Oct. 7/1 Behind the puff of ‘Captain's Log’..is a fascinating insight into the mentality of the blockbuster.
2004 Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 25 June 34/1 The lack of all but puff and promise from the South African administration.
b. Inflated or unmerited praise or commendation; an instance of this; an extravagantly laudatory advertisement or review. Later also more generally: a review, comment, etc., regarded as constituting good publicity. See also Compounds 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > [noun] > for an ulterior purpose
puffery1731
puff1732
jolly1856
log-rolling1888
build-up1927
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > advertising > types or methods of advertising > [noun] > ostentatious or extravagant advertising
puff1732
boom1879
splurge1960
1602 J. Marston Hist. Antonio & Mellida iv. sig. G Blowne vp with the flattering puffes Of spungy Sycophants.
1637 J. Day New Spring Divine Poetrie 39 He stirres not till a puffe of praise doth fill His sailes.
1732 London Mag. 1 81 Puff is a cant word for the applause that writers and Book-sellers give their own books &c. to promote their sale.
1742 C. Cibber Let. to Pope 5 I am really driven to it (as the Puff in the Play-Bill says) At the Desire of several Persons of Quality.
1774 J. Wesley Let. 8 Jan. (1931) VI. 66 I suppose Mr. Rivington's advertisement is only a puff, as the booksellers call it.
1786 Daily Universal Reg. 4 Feb. 1/3 (advt.) S. Ellis submits these Plans to candid Consideration, and Comparison with others, without Puff, and in plain Terms.
1797 J. Robison in Encycl. Brit. XVII. 743/1 His encomiums..are to a great degree extravagant, resembling more the puff of an advertising tradesman than the patriotic communications of a gentleman.
1861 Amer. Agriculturist Jan. 10/2 As both of these parties want a puff in the Agriculturist, we hereby give a certificate that butter can be made in each of their implements.
1889 J. Ruskin Præterita III. iv. 159 The last puffs written for a morning concert.
1916 A. Huxley Let. 29 Dec. (1969) 118 I lighted in to-day's Morning Post on a little puff of myself, apropos of Oxford Poetry, '16.
1960 Punch 16 Mar. 383/2 Students are advised to omit fine language, puffs for the product, or any form of cosy get-togetherness.
1974 S. Chitty Beast & Monk iii. iv. 229 In January 1864 Kingsley reviewed Volumes VII and VIII of Froude's History of England,..no doubt with a view to giving his brother-in-law a ‘puff’.
2000 S. Kinsella Secret Dreamworld Shopaholic ii. 30 It's not as if we ever put anything in the magazine except the puff that comes on the press release.
†7. A person or (more frequently) thing regarded as insubstantial, ephemeral, or inconsequential. Cf. breath n. 3b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > insubstantial
triflec1290
vainc1330
winda1382
vapour1382
gossamer?a1400
visevase1481
good morrow1542
cobweb1579
superficial1579
puff1583
bladder1589
blathery1591
froth1594
bag of winda1599
moth1600
nominala1625
tumour1630
windlestraw1637
vacuity1648
balloon1656
blank1678
breath bubble1835
nominality1842
fluff1906
cotton candy1931
1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie cxciii. 1197 A man would haue thought, that all that euer had beene done in the person of Dauid had been but a puffe.
1588 G. Babington Profitable Expos. Lords Prayer i. 99 He careth not for the puffes of this worlde, birth, beautie, welth or wit.
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 50 Honour is but a puffe; Life but a vapour.
1624 F. Quarles Job Militant in Divine Poems 205 Remember (Lord) my life is but a puffe.
1672 J. Bunyan Confession Faith 110 Carnality is but the bottom, and they are but babes that do it; their zeal is but a puffe.
1730 E. Ward To Humphrey Parsons 19 Titles, he covets not, has Wealth enough, Yet thinks a Blast of Honour but a Puff.
1786 Collyrium of Nation 12 The Grecian Ajax, fam'd whole troops to mar, is a mere puff to one brave British Tar.
8.
†a. A person who is puffed up with pride or vanity, or who behaves arrogantly or insolently; a boaster, a braggart. Obsolete (archaic in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > [noun] > boaster
yelper1340
avaunterc1374
braggerc1390
fare-makerc1440
seggerc1440
shakerc1440
vaunter1484
roosera1500
praterc1500
cracker1509
vouster?a1513
boaster1574
Thrasoa1576
braggarta1577
braver1589
glorioser1589
bragout1592
rodomont1592
braggadocio1594
gloriosoc1599
puckfist1600
burgullian1601
puff1601
forthputtera1610
rodomontado1609
ostentator1611
fanfaron1622
potgun1623
thrasonist1626
cracka1640
vapourer1653
braggadocian1654
rodomontadist1655
charlatan1670
brag1671
rodomontade1683
gasconader1709
rodomontader1730
Gascon1757
spread eagle1809
bag of wind1816
penny trumpeter1828
spraga1838
gasser1855
blow-hard1857
blower1863
crower1864
gabber1869
flannel-mouth1882
punk-fist1890
skiter1898
Tartarin1903
blow1904
skite1906
poofter1916
trombenik1922
shooter of lines1941
fat-mouth1942
wide-mouth1959
Wheneye1982
trash talker1986
braggarist-
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love iii. iii. sig. F2 The one, a light voluptuous Reueller, The other a strange arrogating Puffe, Both impudent, and ignorant enough. View more context for this quotation
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Norf. 253 John Fastolfe Knight..the Stage hath been overbold with his memory, making him a Thrasonical Puff, and emblem of Mock-valour.
1763 G. Pooke Epithalamium 35 Of congress treating, and a deal of stuff, Mean while strife making, with a vain french puff.
1850 E. P. Whipple Ess. & Rev. (ed. 3) I. 392 The age groaned under a company of lewd, shallow-brained puffs, wretches who seemed to have sinned themselves into another kind of species.
†b. slang. A person employed as a decoy in a gambling house. Also: a dummy bidder at an auction; = puffer n. 4b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > [noun] > decoy, etc.
woodpecker1608
puff1722
flasher1731
squib1731
stool-pigeon1830
roper1840
shill1916
stick1926
1722 St. James Post 8–10 Jan. 1090 A Puff, one who has Money given him to Play, in order to decoy others.
1732 Tricks of Town 36 Away to the place of Auction; the Orator,..surrounded by his Puffs and Setters, shows away.
a1753 P. Drake Memoirs (1755) II. x. 225 I..now and then ventured a Guinea at the other Banks in Earnest, to prevent any Suspicion of my being a Puff.
1792 H. Newdigate Let. Feb. in A. E. Newdigate-Newdegate Cheverels (1898) viii. 114 There were no bidders but himself up to 2000 guineas. Our Puff got him up to 2850 guineas.
†c. A person who writes or utters puffs (sense A. 6b); = puffer n. 4a. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > [noun] > one who commends or praises > for ulterior purpose
puffer1624
puff1730
log-roller1821
whooper-up1872
plugger1908
builder-upper1936
1730 H. Fielding Author's Farce ii. ii. 18 Some of it was given to Puffs, to cry up our new Plays—And one half Guinea to Mr. Scribler for a Panegyrical Essay in the News-Paper.
1751 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 10 June (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1747 Lady Hervey, who is your puff and panegyrist, writes me word..that you dance very genteelly.
1764 S. Foote Patron i. 22 The fellow has got a little in flesh, by being puff to the play-house this winter.
1789 R. B. Sheridan Critic i. i Mr. Puff, a gentleman well known in the theatrical world.]
d. colloquial (usually depreciative). A homosexual man; an effeminate man; = poof n.1 Cf. powder puff n. 2a, cream puff n. 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > man > [noun] > effeminate man
badlingeOE
milksopc1390
cockneyc1405
malkina1425
molla1425
weakling1526
tenderling1541
softling1543
niceling1549
woman-man1567
cocknel1570
effeminate1583
androgyne1587
meacock1590
mammaday1593
hermaphrodite1594
midwife1596
nimfadoro1600
night-sneaker1611
mock-mana1625
nan1670
she-man1675
petit maître1711
old woman1717
master-miss1754
Miss Molly1754
molly1785
squaw1805
mollycoddle1823
Miss Nancy1824
mollycot1826
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
ladyboy1857
girl1862
Mary Ann1868
sissy1879
milk1881
pretty-boy1881
nancy1888
poofter1889
Nancy Dawson1890
softie1895
puff1902
pussy1904
Lizzie1905
nance1910
quean1910
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
lily1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
queerie1933
palone1934
queenie1935
girlie-man1940
swish1941
puss1942
wonk1945
mother1947
candy-ass1953
twink1953
cream puff1958
pronk1959
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
pansy-ass1963
weeny1963
poofteroo1966
mo1968
shim1973
twinkie1977
woofter1977
cake boy1992
hermaphrodite-
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male
badlingeOE
nan1670
molly1708
Miss Molly1754
Miss Nancy1824
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
Mary Ann1868
pretty-boy1881
cocksucker1885
poofter1889
queer1894
fruit1895
fairy1896
homosexualist1898
puff1902
pussy1904
nance1910
quean1910
girl1912
faggot1913
mouser1914
queen1919
fag1921
gay boy1921
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
punk1933
queerie1933
gobbler1934
jocker1935
queenie1935
iron1936
freak1941
swish1941
flit1942
tonk1943
wonk1945
mother1947
fruitcake1952
Mary1953
twink1953
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
arse bandit1961
leather man1961
booty bandit1962
ginger beer1964
bummer1965
poofteroo1966
shirtlifter1966
battyman1967
dick-sucker1968
mo1968
a friend of Dorothy1972
shim1973
gaylord1976
twinkie1977
woofter1977
bender1986
knob jockey1989
batty boy1992
cake boy1992
1902 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang V. 313/1 Puff... 3 (tramps'), a sodomist.
1937 E. Partridge Dict. Slang 665/2 Puff,..a sodomist.
1967 H. W. Sutherland Magnie iv. 63 He'd be a puff boy, this Magnie, and God knows what entertainment he laid on for Arthur.
1987 O. Clark Diary 15 Nov. (1998) 227 Go on, then, feel me up, I don't care, you're all puffs.
2003 J. Murray Jazz i. 9 He's not a real man, he's a puff, a nancy, a charlie, a piece of bloody fluff.
B. adj.
Resembling a puff (in various senses); puffed, inflated, swollen, swelling (literal and figurative). Now chiefly of cereal grains: = puffed adj. 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > [adjective] > distending > swelling > swollen
bollen?c1225
bolghena1250
swollenc1325
rank?a1400
forbolned1413
puff1472
voustyc1480
knule?a1513
puffed1536
boldenc1540
tumorous1547
bladder-like1549
hoven1558
forswollen1565
uppuffed1573
bolled1578
engrossed1578
heaved1578
puffy1598
swelleda1616
bloughty1620
inflate1620
tympanous1625
tumid1626
tumoured1635
tumefied1651
bloated1664
pluff1673
inflated1744
balloon-like?1784
bladdery1785
ballooned1820
bepuffeda1849
utriculate1860
pobby1888
1472 in H. J. F. Swayne Churchwardens' Accts. Sarum (1896) 3 (MED) Item, j pall of blew puffe feathers in manner of scaloppys.
1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia i. sig. C3v Like a Swartrutters hose his puffe thoughts swell, With yeastie ambition.
1598 J. Marston Scourge of Villanie ii. vii. sig. F4v Mean'st thou that wasted leg, puffe bumbast boote?
1906 Lincoln (Nebraska) Daily Evening News 6 Apr. 10/4 (advt.) 1 pkge. Quaker's Puff Rice for..10c.
1918 E. Marsh R. Brooke 16 Ties might not be coloured; but there was no rule against their being ‘puff’ and made of crêpe de Chine.
2003 Guardian 26 Apr. (Guide Suppl.) 32/2 Choice veggie starters include the excellent buel poori (crushed pooris, puff rice, onions, potatoes, raw mangoes and served with chutney and garnished with coriander).

Compounds

C1.
a. General attributive in sense A. 1.
† puffroar n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 33 East, weast and Southwynd, with pufroare mightelye ramping [L. turbine venti confligunt].
puff train n.
ΚΠ
1896 A. C. Swinburne Let. 29 May (1962) VI. 100 When the ‘puff-train’ did ‘anything particularly startling or loud’.
1979 News (Frederick, Maryland) 30 Nov. b8/1 (caption) The squeezable farm and the little puff train (pictured here) are perfect playmates for the kids.
† puffwind n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 44 Much lyk to a pufwynd [L. par levibus ventis], or nap that vannished hastlye.
b. (In sense A. 6b.)
† puff-master n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
c1750 Harangues Celebrated Quack-doctors Ded. sig. A2 To the Orator of Orators, and Puff-Master-General of Lincoln's-Inn-Fields.
1779 ‘R. B. S.’ Critick Anticipated i. 18 Neither Don Juan, as a player, or The Critick, as a farce, shall find in me a Puff-master General!
puff merchant n.
ΚΠ
1951 R. Chandler Let. 6 July (1966) 143 Puff merchants..will go on record over practically anything including the World Almanac, provided they get their names featured.
2000 Daily Express (Nexis) 17 Nov. At yesterday's champagne-filled extravaganza there were puff merchants and spin doctors beyond number.
puff piece n.
ΚΠ
1950 Nevada State Jrnl. 26 May 4/4 Flagstad's manager..has hired a writer to do a puff piece on the Moddom.
1959 Jrnl. Archit. Educ. 14 12/2 The general magazines and local newspapers..must stop trafficking in what hard journalists call ‘puff pieces’ and ‘handouts’.
1998 Rec. Collector Apr. 174/1 The results are invariably more revealing than a skip-full of glossy mag puff-pieces.
† puff purveyor n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1908 Athenæum 11 Apr. 442/2 According to Hazlitt,..the rejected puff-purveyor was none other than Charles Lamb.
1916 Wellsboro (Pa.) Agitator 5 Jan. 6/4 He has been pestered so much by people desiring free puffs that he facetiously refers to himself as the ‘Peerless Prince of Puff Purveyors’.
† puff-trap n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1796 Mod. Gulliver's Trav. 172 News-paper, puff-trap, yields supply of game.
puff writer n.
ΚΠ
1855 H. M. Stephens Hagar Martyr xix. 192 He is the reviewer and puff writer general for one of our large publishing houses.
1856 Putnam's Monthly Mag. Feb. 214/1 They can prevent the publishers from insinuating into their columns notices written by their own paid puff-writers.
1936 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 29 Aug. 1/1 (headline) Mistaken views of ‘puff writers’ do not tell real story.
1997 I. Sinclair Lights out for Territory (1998) 134 Within seconds you'll be introduced to other passing members: a puff writer from the Telegraph, a near-famous ex-Nazi set designer, [etc.].
puff writing n.
ΚΠ
1786 Daily Universal Reg. 4 Dec. 2/2 I shall..endeavour in some degree to supply his loss, by offering to the public a general system of puff-writing, as applicable to every profession and character.
1807 R. Southey Lett. from Eng. III. 58 Puff-writing is one of the strange trades in London.
1854 J. T. Trowbridge Martin Merrivale xvi. 222 Chaffer says that puff-writing is an art by itself... You have to make your paragraphs terse and pointed.
1987 Ryerson Rev. Journalism Spring 32/1 These guys are reporters with no knowledge of food; it's puff writing, it's atrocious.
C2.
† puff-bagged adj. Obsolete rare wearing puff breeches.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing trousers > wearing breeches > types of
slopped1601
trunk-hoseda1625
puff-bagged1653
leathered1837
galligaskined1854
knickerbockered1869
knickered1897
trunked1904
plus-foured1925
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 2nd Bk. Wks. ii. 13 Great drops of water, such as fall from a puff-bagg'd man in a top sweat.
puff billiards n. a game resembling billiards, in which players propel a ball across the surface of a table with puffs of air.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > billiards, pool, or snooker > [noun] > varieties of game
carambole1775
portobello1777
carambole game1807
go-back game1839
pyramid1850
pin pool1864
shell-out1866
pocket billiards1871
pocket pool1877
snooker('s) pool1889
puff billiards1897
kelly1898
slosh1938
bar billiards1966
1897 Illustr. London News 13 Nov. 710/3 (advt.) ‘Nicolas’ or puff billiards. The latest and most amusing in~door game yet produced.
1953 P. L. Fermor Violins of Saint-Jacques 74 Usually some newly arrived acquisition from Paris occupied the centre of the room—a magic lantern, a kaleidoscope or..a game of puff-billiards.
1983 Financial Times (Nexis) 17 Feb. i. 10 The company will provide the needy sportsman with a domino set with ‘club size’ dominos at $50, puff billiards for $295, [etc.].
puff box n. a small box containing or designed to contain face powder, talcum powder, or the like, and a powder puff.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > [noun] > instrument used to apply > instrument used to apply powder > containers for
powder box1379
puff box1839
pouncet-box1863
1839 T. Mitchell tr. Aristophanes Frogs 255 Veil, head-net, puff-box, with its proper tool, Ringlets and tuft-locks.
1877 Galaxy Dec. 799/2 A perceptible curvature naturally destroys the value of a section [of the tusk] for an article like a cylindrical casket or a puff box.
1968 Iowa City (Iowa) Press-Citizen 30 Apr. A bottle of Summer Cologne makes a very nice gift, and you can add a puff box of body talc in the same fragrance.
1999 Toronto Star (Nexis) 11 Apr. I lingered longest at my great aunts' dressers, where one by one I lifted the French ivory puff box..the narrow silver tray of amber and tortoise-shell combs, [etc.].
puff breeches n. historical widely puffed or padded breeches, such as were popular in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers > types of > breeches > other
sausage-hosea1637
buckskina1658
trouser breeches1724
Petershams1819
drab1821
trunks1825
plushes1838
puff breechesc1843
c1843 T. Carlyle Hist. Sketches (1898) ii. xii. 260 The huge puff-breeches of the time [sc. the reign of Charles II].
1938 Lima (Ohio) News 15 May 10/4 Colorfully dressed, the men wore puff-breeches, while the women wore full skirts and tight bodices.
1991 I. Ewbank in M. Biggs et al. Arts Performance Elizabethan & Early Stuart Drama 170 Costumed in the puff breeches of the 1617 Quarto title-page's illustration,..the actors created a world pretty unsure about its values.
puff-cheeked adj. having puffed cheeks; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1550 R. Sherry tr. Erasmus Declam. Chyldren in Treat. Schemes & Tropes sig. Givv Lest he shuld be puffe cheked, wrie necked, [etc.].
1670 J. A. Comenius Janua Linguarum Trilinguis 65 Those that are ill-formed are..puff-cheeked, blobber-lip'd, snaggle-tooth'd.
1846 Amer. Whig Rev. Mar. 268 Within whose wide And lofty chambers stalketh puff-cheeked Pride.
1874 E. Bulwer-Lytton Fables in Song I. 37 A rumour flutter'd, on that breeze unfurl'd Whose puff-cheek'd Æolus is Public Prate.
1928 Reno (Nevada) Evening Gaz. 28 June 2/2 Alternate lines of puff-cheeked horn players swaying from right to left in waltz rhythm.
1993 Boulevard Spring 199 He..sucks one great puffcheeked mouthful of spirits,..then releases his fat balloon of face with a sneeze burst of spray.
† puff-cole n. Obsolete rare a variety of cole or cabbage.
ΚΠ
1620 T. Venner Via Recta vii. 135 The top-leaues and heads of Cole that are but a little closed, which we commonly call Puffe-cole.
† puff-doctrine n. Obsolete a doctrine empty of meaning or worth.
ΚΠ
1629 H. Burton Truth's Triumph 11 This Pontifician puffe-doctrine of preparatory workes.
puff-fish n. = puffer n. 6.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Tetraodontiformes (puffers) > [noun] > family Tetraodontidae (puffers) > member of (puff-fish)
globe fish1668
sea-orb1774
Tetrodon1774
puff-fish1807
puffer1814
swell-fish1839
rabbitfish1842
tambour1854
swallow1876
blaasop1902
toado1943
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Tetraodontiformes (puffers) > [noun] > family Diodontidae (porcupine-fishes) > member of
toad-fish1612
globe fish1668
sculpin1672
sea-hedgehog1711
sea-orb1774
puff-fish1807
puffer1814
balloonfish1834
swell-fish1839
tambour1854
swallow1876
blaasop1947
1807 in Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1815) 2nd Ser. III. 55 The puff fish, or swell fish, or bellows fish, is a cartilaginous fish.
1885 A. Brassey In Trades 407 There were little puff-fish, sometimes as round as a puff-ball, sometimes as flat as a pancake.
1952 in F. G. Cassidy & R. B. Le Page Dict. Jamaican Eng. (1967) 365/2 Puff-fish—a name sometimes used for bottle-fish.
puffleg n. any of various South American hummingbirds of the genera Eriocnemis and Haplophaedia, which are characterized by a prominent tuft of white down on each leg.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Apodiformes > [noun] > family Trochilidae (humming-bird) > unspecified and miscellaneous types of
zumbador1758
sunbeam1769
black warrior1831
hermit-bird1837
Anna's hummingbird1839
jacobin1843
straight-tail1843
vervain hummingbird1847
wedge-bill1848
fiery topaz1854
sungem1856
wood-star1859
calliope1861
rainbow1861
sabre-wing1861
sawbill1861
swallowtail1861
sword-bill1861
thorn-bill1861
visor-bearer1861
warrior1861
wood-nymph1861
puffleg1869
calliope hummingbird1872
flame-bearer1882
shear-tail1885
plature1890
rainbow starfrontlet1966
1869 Appletons' Jrnl. 17 July 489/2 Several varieties of the humming-birds are remarkable for a tuft of pure white, downy feathers, which envelops each leg, and which has obtained for them the popular title of Puff-legs.
1874 J. G. Wood Out of Doors 318 The Copper-bellied Puff-leg... The ‘puffs’..look like refined swan's down.
1985 C. M. Perrins Encycl. Birds 259 Emeralds, pufflegs, sunangels and sunbeams are some of the many territorial hummingbirds.
2005 Bull. Brit. Ornithologists' Club 125 136 (title) A hummingbird species new to Peru: range extension for the Greenish Puffleg Haplophaedia aureliae.
puff netting n. rare †(a) Needlework = leaf netting n. at leaf n.1 Compounds 2 (obsolete); (b) U.S. net fabric or meshwork gathered into a rounded shape; (also) the fabric from which puffs (sense A. 4g) are often made.
ΚΠ
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 360/2 Leaf Netting. Also known as Puff Netting, and worked so as to raise some of the loops of a row above the others.
1969 N.Y. Times 6 Apr. 41/5 (advt.) Her Veil..delicately beaded rayon organza crown with short nylon puff netting.
1998 Omaha (Nebraska) World Herald (Nexis) 22 Nov. 8 e A collection of animal-shaped bath scrubbers made of terry cloth and puff netting.
† puff-pig n. Newfoundland Obsolete the common porpoise, Phocoena phocoena; cf. puffer n. 3c, puffing pig n. at puffing adj. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Odontoceti > [noun] > family Phocaenidae (porpoise)
swineeOE
mereswineeOE
pellock1331
sea-swine1398
porpoisea1425
brownswinec1440
bassinatc1540
pollantine1558
sea-hog1580
hogfish1611
tursion1655
tumbler1694
sea-pig1826
snuffer1829
puffing pig1845
puff-pig1861
puffer1884
1861 L. L. Noble After Icebergs 91 At the mention of the puff-pig, the local name for the common porpoise, we indulged ourselves in a childish laugh.
puff pipe n. (a) Plumbing a short ventilation pipe connected to a trap or valve in a drainage system; (b) Aeronautics a pipe out of which compressed air is blown in order to control the attitude of a vertical take-off aircraft.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > provision of sewers > [noun] > sewer > ventilating pipe
puff pipe1894
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > controls and instruments > [noun] > controls > devices to control altitude, attitude, or motion
puff pipe1894
altitude control1910
pitch control1930
jet flap1955
roller1959
1894 A. J. Wallis-Tayler Sanitary Arrangem. of Dwelling-houses ix. 58 A puff-pipe, about one inch in diameter, should be taken from the valve-box through the outer wall, and its free end be also fitted with a brass flap-valve.
1960 Aeroplane 98 572/1 (diagram) Pilot controls..attitude and yaw via ‘puff-pipes’.
1965 J. L. Nayler Aviation xiii. 188/2 Control in hovering flight was obtained by the ‘puff-pipe’ system first used in the Flying Bedstead.
1972 J. Hastings Plumber's Compan. 133 In Wiltshire the ornamental end of a puff pipe is a snake's mouth.
puff port n. Aeronautics a vent out of which compressed air is blown in order to control the attitude of a hovercraft.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > other equipment of vessel > [noun] > specific equipment on hovercraft
landing pad1958
sidewall1960
ram-wing1962
skirt1962
puff port1967
1967 Jane's Surface Skimmer Syst. 1967–8 37/1 Puff ports, to improve in particular low-speed yaw control, and segmented skirts will be incorporated.
1971 R. L. Trillo Marine Hovercraft Technol. v. 93 Puff ports used on the Parkhouse Beckingham Hovercat to assist in directional control also provided rolling moment causing the craft to roll into a turn, thereby enhancing the comfort of the turning manoeuvre.
† puff ring n. Obsolete (apparently) a finger ring which though supposed to be of solid metal is in fact hollow.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > [noun] > something false or forged > supposedly precious
Martin chain?1550
puff ring1557
St Martin's rings1590
by-gold1611
schlenter1897
1557 Dialoge of Comfort (new ed.) iii. xiv, in Wks. Sir T. More 1228/1 Like a puffe rynge [1553 pursering] of Paris, holowe, light and counterfait in deede.
1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. Gv They [sc. goldsmiths]..can temper mettals shrewdly, with no little profite to themselues and disaduauntage to the buier, beside puffe ringes, and quaint conceits which I omit.
puff scarf n. chiefly U.S. a scarf or neckcloth with wide puffed ends, worn like a cravat.
ΚΠ
1880 Amer. Mail Order Fashions in Americana Rev. (1961) 32 New puff-scarf, satin faced and lined.
1907 Manitoba Morning Free Press 19 Feb. 12/3 (advt.) Astoria [collar]—Stylish, without being extreme. Looks best with large puff scarf.
1948 A. Stringer Red Wine of Youth iv. 40 There was..a strict injunction against colored neckties, but Rupert evaded the issue by taking to Byronic puff scarves that were arresting in their amplitude.
1968 Port Arthur (Texas) News 5 Nov. With a puff scarf in red, white and blue, these Allen-Press wrinkle free knits capture the spirit of '68 wherever you go.
puff shark n. now rare the swell shark, Cephaloscyllium ventriosum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > miscellaneous types of
tiburon1555
dog1673
picked dog1673
picked dogfish1740
tiger-shark1787
piked dogfish1805
ground-shark1834
sea-attorney1849
gazer1861
shovel head1881
puff shark1902
spur-dog1921
whaler shark1937
megamouth1977
1902 Sci. Amer. 15 Nov. 20323 The curious puff shark uttered a deep grunt when it was taken from the water.
1908 C. F. Holder Big Game at Sea 118 (caption) The Puff Shark of California and Its Eggs.
puff-shouldered adj. (of a garment) full in the shoulders, as through having puff sleeves; (of a person) wearing such a garment.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > having specific parts > ornamented or trimmed > puffed > puff-shouldered
puff-shouldered1899
1899 A. Conan Doyle Duet i. 7 A roomful of puff-shouldered young ladies.
1933 Winnipeg Free Press 2 Dec. 36/1 (advt.) With such a demure, puff-shouldered top, you'd never expect this negligee to terminate in trousers.
1997 Scotsman (Nexis) 15 Mar. 2 The look also included tight-waisted, puff-shouldered jackets.
puff sleeve n. a (usually short) sleeve gathered at the top and cuff and full in the middle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > covering spec parts of body > arm > types of
poke1402
foresleeve1538
long sleeve1538
lumbard1542
puller out1543
maunch1550
hand sleeve1585
French sleeve1592
poke sleeve1592
puff1601
trunk sleeve1603
stock-sleeve1611
hoop-sleeve1614
puff sleevec1632
short sleeve1639
hanging sleeve1659
engageants1690
jockey-sleeve1692
pudding-sleeve1704
Amadis1814
gigot1824
leg of mutton1824
bishop sleeve1829
mutton-leg sleeve1830
balloon sleeve1837
gigot-sleeve1837
bag-sleeve1844
pagoda sleeve1850
mameluke sleeve1853
angel sleeve1859
elbow-sleeve1875
sling-sleeve1888
sleevelet1889
pagoda1890
bell-sleeve1892
kimono sleeve1919–20
dolman1934
c1632 I. Jones in P. Simpson & C. F. Bell Designs by I. Jones for Masques & Plays at Court (1924) 66 The boddis yellow and imbrodered with siller... The puff sleeues and long bases whight.
?c1847 R. J. Raymond Discarded Daughter 4 Costume... Ravensburg—Purple velvet shirt with crimson puff sleeves, orange pantaloons, [etc.].
1894 B. Potter Jrnl. (1966) 314 I had to take his arm in to dinner, not much encouraged by his scrutiny of my puff-sleeves.
1933 L. Goodrich Thomas Eakins 185 Three-quarters length, half-left, her face almost in profile; dark hair, black evening dress with short puff sleeves; her bare arms resting in her lap.
2006 Evening Standard (Nexis) 9 May 34 She picks a fantastic railful of stuff including a green print dress with puff sleeves.
puff-sleeved adj. having puff sleeves; (occasionally) wearing a garment with puff sleeves.
ΚΠ
1883 ‘M. Twain’ Life on Mississippi xxxviii. 404 Grandpa and grandma,..stiff, old-fashioned, high-collared, puff-sleeved.
1969 Observer 21 Dec. 23/4 This smocked, puff-sleeved blouse.
1996 H. Fielding Bridget Jones's Diary (1997) 170 I spent the rest of the party wearing..a puff-sleeved, floral-spring Laura Ashley bridesmaid dress.
puff stone n. English regional a soft, porous, calcareous rock; tufa.
ΚΠ
a1641 J. Smyth Berkeley MSS (1885) III. 175 In this towne [sc. Dursley] is a rocke of a strange stone called a Puffe stone.
1742 Defoe's Tour Great Brit. (ed. 3) II. 252 That soft, easy-to-be wrought Stone at Great Banington, called Puff-stone, prodigiously strong and lasting.
1811 J. Farey Gen. View Agric. Derbyshire I. 457 Tufa, Tophus, Puff-stone or marl-stone, is a porous soft stone of recent formation.
2004 Gloucester Citizen (Nexis) 19 July 6 ‘Tuff’ stone (or sometimes referred to as ‘Puff’ stone) is a peculiar natural rock, similar in appearance to the volcanic ‘Tuffa’ of the famous catacombs near Rome.
puff-throated adj. (in the names of some perching birds) having a puffed or inflated throat.
ΚΠ
1847 W. H. Edwards Voy. River Amazon v. 50 The Manakins, in their different varieties, form a beautiful family... The common varieties are the White-capped, Pipra leucocilla..; and Puff-throated, P. manacus.
1975 B. F. King & E. C. Dickinson Field Guide Birds South-east Asia 294 Puff-throated Babbler Pellorneum ruficeps... Other [names]—Spotted Babbler... Dark rufous crown, pale buffy eyebrow, white throat.
2001 Conservation Biol. 15 698 Puff-throated Babbler. Pellorneum ruficeps.
puff wig n. a puffed or full wig, esp. as worn in the 17th and 18th centuries.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > practice of wearing artificial hair > [noun] > artificial hair > full or puffed
puff wig1699
full-bottom1710
1699 E. Ward London Spy I. x. 6 A Poem in praise of short Puff-wigs.
1702 G. Farquhar Inconstant i. i. 6 Get thyself a Drugget Sute and a Puff Wig, and so—I dub thee Gentleman Usher.
1926 News (Frederick, Maryland) 8 May 3/1 A huge crowd assembled to see him mount on the back of the first ‘horse’ in full puff wig and shovel hat.
1998 Dallas Morning News (Nexis) 3 May c1 Though Amanda's ‘pantaloons and strawberry-blond puff wig’ in the first act are odd enough, Ms. Parker says, she gets weirder still.
† puff wing n. Obsolete a puffed or prominent wing-like projection at the shoulder of a dress.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > covering spec parts of body > shoulder > wing or projection on
wing1412
puff wing1602
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster iv. i. sig. F4v You shall see 'hem flocke about you with their puffe wings, and aske you, where you bought your Lawne. View more context for this quotation
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. v. 243/1 The German Heralds do Draw all their Robed Women after this manner, with round puffing Wings at their Shoulders.]
C3. Denoting items made from or with puff pastry, or having a comparably light texture (cf. sense A. 2), as puff crust, puff tart, etc.Apparently in extended use in quot. 1652.
ΚΠ
1652 Mercurius Britannicus No. 2. 27 It is pitty so much gallantry should be betrayed by seeming puff-crum Flemins.
1707 J. Stevens tr. F. G. de Quevedo y Villegas Knight's Epist. iii Could you find no body else to beg Puff Pasties of?
1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. I Beat these all together for a quarter of an Hour, and bake them in Puff-Crust in a quick Oven.
1831 J. Ruskin Let. in E. T. Cook Life John Ruskin (1911) I. i. 26 Puff-tarts, ham, and oyster patties.
1873 Ladies Repository July 54/2 Every known combination of Indian-meal, from mush-and-milk and Johnny-cake..to frosted sweet-cakes and puff-tarts.
1905 Manitoba Morning Free Press 25 Dec. 5/3 Jelly Baskets a la Tangerine. Oyster Puff Patties.
1953 Newark (Ohio) Advocate & Amer. Tribune 4 June 23/3 Pineapple Puff Pie.—Make 1 recipe American pie pastry. Roll to a scant ¼ inch in thickness [etc.].
2000 BusinessWorld (Nexis) 14 Dec. 23 Beef Wellington baked in a puff crust.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

puffv.

Brit. /pʌf/, U.S. /pəf/
Inflections: Past tense and past participle puffed /pʌft/, (archaic and nonstandard, rare) puft;
Forms: Old English piffan, Old English pyffan, Middle English pouff, Middle English pouffe, Middle English–1500s puf, Middle English–1600s poffe, Middle English–1600s puffe, 1500s–1600s poff, 1500s– puff; N.E.D. (1909) also records a form Middle English poff. Also past tense and past participle Old English pyfte, Middle English 1500s– puft (now archaic and nonstandard), Middle English–1500s pufte.
Origin: An imitative or expressive formation.
Etymology: Imitative of the action and sound of emitting a puff of breath from the lips. Compare Middle Dutch puffen to puff, blow (Dutch puffen, poffen), early modern German büffen to puff up (hair, a wig) (16th cent.).Dutch poffen , Middle Low German puffen to hit audibly, German puffen to hit, strike (16th cent.) are probably unrelated, ultimately showing a quite different imitative formation; compare buff n.1 In Old English the prefixed form apyffan to let out (one's breath) (compare sense 1a) is also attested (compare a- prefix1 ):OE Aldhelm Glosses (Digby 146) in A. S. Napier Old Eng. Glosses (1900) 126/2 Exalauit [spiritum]: ut apyfte [OE Brussels 1650 ut awifte]. The existence of a weak Class II by-form *pyfian , claimed by H. D. Meritt ( Old Eng. Prudentius Glosses (1959) 68) and based on a disputed reading, is unlikely (see discussion at poke v.1).
1.
a. transitive. To blow out (air, one's breath, smoke, etc.), esp. in a short abrupt blast or blasts; to emit in puffs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > air > moving air > set (air) in motion [verb (transitive)] > move or emit by blowing
puffOE
OE Aldhelm Glosses (Corpus Cambr. 285) in A. S. Napier Old Eng. Glosses (1900) 185/2 Efflauit flamen : pyfte gast.
?1490 tr. Gouernayle of Helthe sig. Aviiv Holde thy breth as longe as thou maist and thenne puffe it oute as hard as thou maist do.
1589 J. Anger Her Protection for Women sig. Aiv Let..euery blast [be] a Whyrl-wind puffed out of Boreas his long throat.
1666 A. Brome tr. Horace Poems 206 His laborious lungs do alwayes go Like a Smiths Bellows, puffing breath so fast, That he his Iron audients tires at last.
1694 tr. J. Brown Christ in Believers Hope of Glory 30 Their Hope is but as the giving up of the Ghost, or puffing out its breath and perisheth.
1823 E. James Acct. Exped. Rocky Mts. I. 188 The chiefs and magi are seated in front of their people, puffing smoke from their pipes.
?1867 W. Phillips Maud's Peril iii. 34 Taper. Why, the drawer's full. (puffing out and drawing in breath) I never saw so many canary birds in all my life.
1915 G. B. Grinnell Fighting Cheyennes xxi. 286 He puffed out his breath toward them, imitating the snorting of a bull.
1966 M. Frayn Russian Interpreter i. 8 A train with a thousand trucks shunted slowly across the south of the city, puffing brilliant snowballs of smoke up into the sunshine.
1997 Detroit Free Press (Nexis) 29 Apr. 8 f He..asked Bence to wiggle his toes and puff out breath to make sure he didn't disrupt any signals the brain sends to the rest of the body.
2004 L. Erdrich Four Souls (2005) xiv. 180 Only by clipping off the end of the quill and puffing air through the hollow can the barb safely be released.
b. intransitive. To blow with a short abrupt blast or blasts, or in sudden gusts; to emit a puff of air or breath; to direct a puff of air at something.to huff and puff: see huff v. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > air > moving air > move (of air) [verb (intransitive)] > produce current of air > produce a puff
puffOE
puft1563
OE Monasteriales Indicia (1996) xxxiv. 28 Ðonne þu leohtfæt abban wylle, tospræddum fingre rær up þine swiðran hand and pyf on þinne scytefinger.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame 1866 Eolus..tok his blake trumpe faste And gan to puffen and to blaste.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. v. 51 Like foggy South, puffing with winde and raine. View more context for this quotation
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xviii. 438 Puffing loud, the roaring Bellows blew.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa IV. xxvi. 151 He [sc. Boreas] puffed away most vehemently; and often made the poor fellow curve and stagger.
1841 G. Borrow Zincali i. xi. §1. 53 The bellows puff until the coal is excited to a furious glow.
1877 Spirit of Times 24 Nov. 455/1 I feel the cold breath of icy winter puffing at my legs.
1890 J. Jacobs Eng. Fairy Tales xiv. 69 Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.
1949 E. Bowen Heat of Day xi. 202 Children..engaged innocently on some act of destruction—depetalling daisies, puffing at dandelion clocks.
1999 BackHome Mar.–Apr. 8/2 Get the pill in the mouth..hold the mouth shut, and gently ‘puff’ in the animal's face.
c. intransitive. Of air, vapour, smoke, etc.: to issue, move, or be driven as a puff or puffs (frequently with out, up). Of wind: to blow in brief blasts.Also (occasionally) transitive: to cause (dust, etc.) to rise up in a puff.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > say in a particular manner [verb (transitive)] > breathily
puff1576
pant1608
gaspa1616
whiff1765
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 66 Nowðer ne mei þe wind..fule þi sawle þah hit puffe [?c1225 Cleo. putte] up o þe bute þe seolf hit makie.
c1440 Prose Life Alexander (Thornton) (1913) 56 (MED) Alson als a little blaste of wynde puffes apon þam [sc. cobwebs] þay breke & falles to grownde.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Erasmus in Panoplie Epist. 350 When the windes cease puffing.
1587 A. Golding tr. Solinus Worthie Work xlvii. sig. Y.ii Wythin the skynne..there is contayned a cindrye soote, whych at euerye lyght touch puffeth out lyke a smoke.
1656 J. Trapp Comm. James iv. 14 Thy breath is in thy nostrils, ever ready to puff out.
1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle's Log II. v. 233 A sudden flash and a jet of white smoke puffed out from the hill-fort above the town.
1865 S. Baring-Gould Bk. Were-wolves vii The air puffing up off the blue twinkling Bay of Biscay.
1889 A. Conan Doyle Micah Clarke xv. 138 Bullets which puffed up the white dust all around him.
1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers viii. 206 ‘By Jove!’ he cried, flinging open the oven-door. Out puffed the bluish smoke and a smell of burned bread.
1927 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 14 Sept. (Daily Mag.) 3/1 The wind, puffing upward under the umbrella, made it almost like a sailing balloon.
1989 J. Galloway Trick is to keep Breathing (1991) 19 The two armchairs are covered with sheeting. Dust puffs up from underneath when someone sits on them.
2001 H. Holmes Secret Life Dust ix. 162 As a puffball ages, it fills with dark spores. In springtime these ‘puff’ out of holes in the mushroom's leathery skin.
d. intransitive. Of a person: to take puffs at, on, or †with a pipe, cigar, cigarette, etc.; to smoke. Also transitive: to draw on, to smoke (a pipe, cigarette, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > use as material for smoking [verb (transitive)] > use in the act of smoking
drone1600
to take the whiff1600
whiffc1616
puff1664
smoke1707
fuff1786
blow1808
burn1929
chuff1940
1664 A. Jennings Miraculum Basilicon 58 Puffing with his Pipe of Tobacco.
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 224 The dozing sages..pause, and puff—and speak, and pause again.
1809 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. I. iii. iii. 147 Here the old burgher would set..puffing his pipe.
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. iii. 51 Sanders..puffed away at his cigar.
1876 H. James Roderick Hudson i. 5 Rowland..lighted a cigar and puffed it awhile in silence.
1914 J. Joyce Dubliners 10 He began to puff at his pipe, no doubt arranging his opinion in his mind.
1924 R. Connell in B. C. Williams O. Henry Prize Stories of 1924 (1925) 73 Rainsford, reclining in a steamer chair, indolently puffed on his favourite brier.
1964 R. Gover Here goes Kitten 103 They were sitting on the porch one evening, feet up on the railing, puffing after-dinner cigars.
1987 Daily Tel. 16 May 9/4 A drawing..shows a dull, scruffy couple, puffing yobbishly on cigarettes in a dingy sitting-room.
2006 N.Y. Mag. 17 Apr. 50/2 Doing a line [was] no more frowned upon than puffing on a joint.
e. intransitive. Of a steam-powered vehicle or boat: to emit puffs of smoke; (with adverb or adverbial phrase) to move in a specified direction while doing this. Also transitive: to make (one's way) in this manner.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > [verb (intransitive)] > move by agency of steam
puff1828
steam1862
the world > matter > gas > [verb (transitive)] > emit as fumes or vapour > emit steam with sound
puff1828
fuff1894
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sudden or violent sound > explosive sound > [verb (intransitive)] > explosive emission of air
puff1828
whoof1863
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > let or send out [verb (intransitive)] > be emitted > emit vapour
puff1828
exhale1860
1828 J. K. Paulding New Mirror for Travellers 150 A steam boat, smoking and puffing her way up to Albany.
1843 W. Frazier Jrnl. 26 July (1930) 53 The Louisville & Cincinnati mail steamer was puffing along.
1849 D. G. Mitchell Battle Summer (1852) 222 The railway engines are puffing out of Paris.
1894 Outing 24 372/2 A light rain was falling as the steamer puffed away from the South Stack Lighthouse.
1932 New Yorker 23 July 7/1 He doesn't like New York as well as smaller towns because you can't go down to the station and see the trains ‘puffin'’.
1956 Railway Mag. Mar. 165/1 The 7.30 a.m. from Amman to Ma'an puffs heavily round a hillside overlooking the city.
1997 R. B. McKenzie Paradox of Progress i. 9 Wagon trains that inched across the vast hinterlands of the West gave way to steam engines that puffed along many of the same trails at then breakneck speeds.
f. intransitive. Of a fungus: to discharge a cloud of spores suddenly. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > discharge spores [verb (intransitive)]
puff1887
1887 H. E. F. Garnsey & I. B. Balfour tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Morphol. & Biol. Fungi iii. 89 As long as the Fungus remains shut up in the damp atmosphere no amount of shaking will cause it to puff.
1953 C. T. Ingold Dispersal in Fungi ii. 27 Once an apothecium has puffed it cannot, as a rule, be induced to do so again for a time.
2.
a. transitive. To blow away, down, etc., with a puff of air or wind. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > impel or drive [verb (transitive)] > by blowing or puffing
puff?c1225
blowa1300
whiffle1641
whuffle1906
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > make progress > by types of mechanical propulsion
puff?c1225
sternwheel1807
paddle1827
steam1832
screw1840
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 195 Ȝef an miracle nere þe pufte adun þe deouel þe set on hire se feste.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 199 Þe ȝetewart is wittes sckile þet ach to..don þe hweate igerner. & puffen eauer awei þe deofles chef.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. v. 16 Piries and plomtrees were puffed [c1400 A text put; v.rr. poffet; possid, passchet; c1400 C text poffed; v.r. i-puffed] to þe erthe.
1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Pistles in tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. Gvj That huffes it vp, and puffes it downe.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 48 In three days sayling wee shal too Candye be puffed.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. xxix. sig. Gg4 He was swayed withall..as euerie winde of passions puffed him.
1655 J. Quarles Gods Love ii. 58 in Divine Meditations Thou unconsiderate dust, which every winde Can puff away.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 68 When the clearing North will puff the Clouds away. View more context for this quotation
1730 J. Gay Trivia (ed. 3) ii. 28 I..See them puff off the froth, and gulp amain, While with dry tongue I lick my lips in vain.
1761 tr. C. Batteux Course Belles Lettres IV. iii. i. ii. 11 Those bubbles of water which glitter a while in the air, and are puffed away by the least breath of wind.
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice I. xi. 129 My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them. View more context for this quotation
1865 Harper's Mag. Sept. 457/1 Objections..so perfectly shallow that..they would have been puffed away by the breath of public contempt.
1939 R. Smith & N. Beasley Carter Glass vii. 84 Widow's mite and miser's hoard alike were puffed away by the chilling winds of—what?
1980 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 124 145/2 If a few grains are present they may be puffed away by a sharp puff with his breath.
b. transitive. To put out (a flame, candle, etc.) with a puff of air, to blow out. Also figurative. Also intransitive: to be blown out (in quot. a1400 figurative).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > make dark [verb (transitive)] > quench (light) > in specific way
flapc1540
puff1547
purge1573
to blow out1617
spit1681
shoot1972
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 219 Luue is Iesu cristes fur..& þe deouel blaweð for to Puffen hit ut.
a1400 Ancrene Riwle (Pepys) (1976) 47 Þere is litel loue of charite þat puffeþ out for a litel wynde.
1547 tr. A. de Marcourt Bk. Marchauntes (new ed.) c ij b Some poore foole..stycketh vp a candell vpon a pyller, and oure marchaunt anone snatcheth and puffeth it out.
1629 F. Quarles Argalus & Parthenia ii. 63 This breath shall puffe thee out.
1680 E. Settle Female Prelate iii. 31 If 'tis decreed..A martyr'd Prince's Life like a poor Taper Must be puffed out by that base poysonous blast.
1752 E. Young Brothers i. i Those That would make kings, and puff them out at pleasure.
1804 J. Collins Scripscrapologia 167 They've pufft out the Candles and muzzl'd the Bears, The better to grope their Way ‘Up the back Stairs’!
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It xxxii. 235 The next match..flashed and died. The wind puffed the third one out.
a1894 R. L. Stevenson In South Seas (1896) ii. vi. 207 The wind puffed out his light, and he must grope back to the door.
1950 A. H. Gross tr. I. B. Singer Family Moskat i. ii. 38 He held a match to his cigar, but the wind puffed out the flame.
1958 Winnipeg Free Press 17 July 16/6 Princess Margaret reached the appointed place and puffed the flame out.
2004 Re: Depressing Books in rec.arts.books (Usenet newsgroup) 4 Feb. When you positioned the ring around a candleflame, you squeezed the bulb and the candle puffed out.
c. transitive. To direct air at (a fire, etc.), so as to make it burn more effectively; to fan into a blaze with puffs. Formerly frequently with up. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > burn or consume by fire [verb (transitive)] > make a fire > direct current of air into fire
blowa1300
puffc1475
bellows1605
wind1605
ventilate1613
fan1887
c1475 (c1445) R. Pecock Donet (1921) 6 (MED) Y haue made a litil book..forto be abilowe to blowe and puffe vp þe fier of deuocioun in her soule.
1598 R. Hakluyt tr. A. Jónsson in Princ. Navigations (new ed.) I. 556 There is ayer also, which insinuating it selfe by passages, and holes, into the very bowels of the earth, doeth puffe vp the nourishment of so huge a fire.
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist ii. i. sig. C4v That's his Fire-drake, His Lungs, his Zephyrus, he that puffes his coales. View more context for this quotation
1698 J. Tutchin White-Hall in Flames iii Embers... Which Fate puffs up unto a blaze.
a1763 W. Shenstone Colemira 52 She..Foments the infant flame, and puffs it into life.
1773 R. Graves Spiritual Quixote III. xii. xv. 308 She immediately began puffing up the fire.
1839 R. M. Bird Adventures Robin Day I. xv. 120 They slunk away to their domestic occupations, one to pounding corn in a mortar, another to puffing a fire under a pot, the third to some other work.
1909 A. C. Benson Poems 192 Puff the weary winking ashes Into shoots of livelier flame.
1963 M. Laurence in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 128 She puffed the charcoal embers into flame, plonked on the tin kettle.
2004 North Bay (Ont.) Nugget (Nexis) 30 Oct. b10 Once the paper was burning I reached for my small bellows and puffed the flames into a mini-inferno.
d. transitive. To apply, put on (cosmetic powder) with a powder puff. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > beautify (the skin or complexion) [verb (transitive)] > powder
pounce1610
puff1809
powder1870
violet-powder1876
talcum1923
talc1976
1809 T. E. Hook Killing no Murder i. iii. 23 (stage direct.) While he is reading he puffs powder, in his eyes over his shoulder.
1838 D. Jerrold Men of Char. (1851) 5 Job..tried to puff, but his unsteady hand..sent forth the powder above, below, about, but not upon the head.
1909 Lady 7 Jan. 34/3 Afterwards puff on a little rice powder.
1973 J. Wood North Beat ii. 27 It's fine powder you get in a puffer bottle—puff it on your hair to make it look right grey.
1997 Scotl. on Sunday 2 Mar. 23 Gray and Keys were under the lights in the studio, the latter puffing powder on his face.
e. transitive. To drive or cause to move with puffing. rare.
ΚΠ
1903 Smart Set 9 147/1 He puffed his automobile up the drive.
3.
a. intransitive. To breathe fast and deeply, as when out of breath following exertion, running, etc.; to pant, gasp for breath.Frequently in to puff and blow, to puff and pant.See also to huff and puff at huff v. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > have or cause breathing disorder [verb (intransitive)] > become short of breath > pant
fnastc1000
puffc1300
pantc1350
fnesec1386
blowc1440
bluster1530
pech1538
pantlea1626
pank1669
heave1679
fuff1721
pipe1814
huff1881
c1300 St. Michael (Laud) 234 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 306 (MED) Huy liggez ase an heui stok þat wolde ane Man a-stoffe, þat he ne may him wawie fot ne hond, ne vnneþes ani-þing poffe.
a1325 Lent (Corpus Cambr.) 54 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 130 (MED) Monye riche men þat habbeþ al hore ese Wanne hi habbeþ to muche iȝete..Hi poffeþ and meneþ hore stomak þat mot nede vuel vare.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xiii. 87 He shal haue a penaunce in his paunche and puffe at ech a worde.
1568 U. Fulwell Like wil to Like B j Who comes yonder puffing as whot as a black pudding.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxiii. 118 To be hoat and chafe, to puffe and blow, to sweat.
1681 J. Dryden Spanish Fryar i. 3 I met a reverend, fat, old, gouty Fryar;..Come puffing..And fumbling o'er his Beads.
1710 J. Addison Tatler No. 165. ⁋4 Puffing and blowing as if..very much out of Breath.
1718 R. Blackmore Coll. Poems Var. Subj. 128 Your Reverend Dunce, who puffs and pants Waddles with Fat, and bursts with Ale and Nants.
1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance lxix He was puffing, and blowing, and sawing the air with his arms, without ever gaining a single step upon them.
1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues II. 93 He sees the rich man under an umbrella puffing and panting.
1924 P. G. Wodehouse Bill the Conqueror 94 He arrived now puffing painfully, and for a space was deaf to Bill's reproaches.
1982 P. Redmond Brookside (Mersey TV shooting script) (O.E.D. Archive) Episode 4. 74 (stage direct.) Damon, Ducksie and Gizzmo come into shot..all puffing and panting harder..but laughing.
2002 N. Minhas Chapatti or Chips? xxvii. 298 Eight reps later, puffing, he released the knurled EZ barbell, dropping it onto the black rubber matting.
b. transitive. To utter breathlessly or in gasps; to gasp out.
ΚΠ
1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 37 The swine-wurrier came lazily wadling in, and puft out Porke, Porke, Porke.
1893 Temple Bar Jan. 61 The spleenful emphasis with which the Squire puffed out the last word.
1921 T. Tupper in B. Williams O. Henry Prize Stories of 1921 (1922) 297 ‘Sorry if I startled you,’ puffed the man, entirely winded by the six flights.
1979 J. Gardner Nostradamus Traitor xxvi. 110 ‘Jesus Christ,’ puffed Balthazar. ‘No heroics, Sunny Jim.’
1999 J. Elliot Unexpected Light (2000) viii. 283 ‘What can we do?’ he puffed.
c. intransitive. To move while puffing and panting. Also transitive: to make (one's way) in this manner. (In quot. 1765 figurative)
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > move at specific rate [verb (intransitive)] > go panting
panta1635
puff1765
1765 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VII. xvi. 48 Those whiffling vexations which come puffing across a man's canvass.
1780 R. B. Sheridan School for Scandal ii. ii. 19 You shall see her on a little squat poney,..puffing round the ring in a full trot.
1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. v. 98 After toiling and puffing up to the very top of the building.
1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 955 They puff after trains.
1979 E. Koch Good Night Little Spy xv. 140 As he puffed his way up to the podium, everyone stood up.
2005 B. Pilton Valley iii. 21 The vicar puffed his way down the path of yews.
d. transitive. To make (a person) breathless. Cf. puffed adj. 3. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > have or cause breathing disorder [verb (transitive)] > make short of breath
breathec1425
overbreathe1586
outwind1708
unwind1788
wind1811
pump1858
puff1909
1909 N.E.D. (at cited word) Puff,..to cause to puff, to put out of breath.
1919 Punch 14 May 5 (cartoon caption) Director of old-established firm. ‘I hope you don't smoke?’ The new ‘Boy’. ‘No—given it up. Find it “puffs” me for jazzin'.’
1986 S. Middleton After Dinner's Sleep iv. 49 The struggle puffed him so that he stood..holding on to the washing machine.
4.
a. transitive. To cause (something) to swell by directing air into it; to blow out or up, to inflate; to distend by inflation, or by stuffing, padding, etc.; to bulk out or fluff up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > tailor or make clothes [verb (transitive)] > make full or puff out
puffc1460
buff1573
blouse1934
the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > expand or enlarge [verb (transitive)] > distend > swell
swella1400
puffc1460
embossc1475
extend1481
heave1573
ball1593
tympanize1593
tumefy1597
hove1601
bladder1610
buzzlea1634
burly1635
inflatea1705
bumfle1832
the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > expand or enlarge [verb (transitive)] > distend > inflate
forblow1413
puffc1460
inflate1528
huff1601
sufflate1616
plima1691
balloon1784
bloat1815
gas1919
the world > matter > gas > air > [verb (transitive)] > inflate
abloweOE
blowc1425
inflate1528
huff1601
sufflate1616
puff1679
plima1691
balloon1906
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn 2958 (MED) Ther cam a mows lepe forth & ete þe þird boon, That puffid out hir skyn as grete as she myȝt goon.
a1529 J. Skelton Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng in Certayne Bks. (?1545) 570 Her paunche was so puffed And so with ale stuffed, Had she not hyed apace, She had defoyled the place.
1539 in Vicary's Anat. Bodie of Man (1888) App. iii. 173 Apparelled in whyte Satten puffed out with crymsen sarcenet.
1592 ‘C. Cony-Catcher’ Def. Conny-catching sig. C4 What say you to the Butcher..that hath policies to puffe vp his meate to please the eye.
1671 J. Sharp Midwives Bk. vi. vii. 390 Wind puffs up the Navel when the Peritonæum is loose.
1679 T. Blount Fragmenta Antiquitatis 11 He should dance, puff up his Cheeks, making therewith a sound.
1735 W. Somervile Chace iii. 561 The Huntsman..puffs his Cheeks in vain.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 152 This method of puffing itself up, is similar to that in pigeons, whose crops are sometimes greatly distended with air.
a1825 A. L. Barbauld Legacy for Young Ladies (1826) 167 The arms were puffed up to an unusual thickness.
1863 E. C. Gaskell Sylvia's Lovers II. xv. 284 The pigeon would sit..sunning herself, and puffing out her feathered breast.
1882 Cent. Mag. June 211/1 A bumble-bee, with..High thighs puffed out with anther-dust.
1913 W. Cather O Pioneers! iv. iv. 243 He recognized..his friend, coatless, his white shirt puffed out by the wind.
1977 R. R. Rea in D. H. Bond & W. R. McLeod Newslett. to Newspapers iii. 177 They had been puffed out with supplements in the form of natural, philosophic, and universal histories.
2006 Guardian 28 Mar. ii. 9/2 The marsh frog..makes its presence known by puffing out its cheeks and producing a loud croak.
b. intransitive. To become inflated; to be or become distended in any way; to swell, bulge; to become puffy. Frequently with out, up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > expand or enlarge [verb (intransitive)] > distend > swell
swellOE
to-swellc1000
bolnec1325
pluma1398
bladderc1440
boldena1510
to bulk1551
hove1590
tympanize1607
outswell1612
tumefy1615
extuberate1623
heave1629
blister1644
puff1648
huff1656
intumesce1794
pluff1831
balloon1841
turgesce1864
tumesce1966
1648 N. Ward Mercurius Anti-mechanicus 4 He is rather like your Paste, the more he is knock't, the more he swels and puffes.
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Tumefie,..to make to swell, or puff up.
1670 E. Maynwaring Vita Sana & Longa (new ed.) vi. 81 One [body] puffs up, fills, and grows hydropical; another pines away, and falls Consumptive.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Lemon Should the Lemon-Slips happen to puff or turn sower in the Vessels, wherein they are kept.
1784 J. Twamley Dairying Exemplified 27 [The cheese] when released from the Press, will heave, or puff up, by Splitting or Jointing.
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. xlvi. 328 In consequence of being depressed in one place, it seems to puff out in another.
1880 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 12 July His cheeks puff out like the fat boy's.
1909 Science Sept. 316/1 Unlike ammonium amalgam, the new organic metal does not have any tendency to puff up.
1985 L. McMurtry Lonesome Dove (1986) v. 55 It felt to him like the biscuits were probably ready... They had puffed up nicely.
2001 Cosmopolitan Dec. 78/2 Sensitive undereye skin is quick to retain fluids and puff up when you're dehydrated.
c. transitive. To arrange (hair) in puffs; to dress the hair of (a person) in this way. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > beautify (the hair) [verb (transitive)] > arrange
truss1340
flarec1550
puff1884
stiver1886
scrape1926
scrag1937
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > beautify (the hair) [verb (transitive)] > arrange > in a specific style
French1762
Cherokee1765
puff1884
pompadour1887
quiff1940
1884 Sat. Evening Observer (Dunkirk, N.Y.) 19 Apr. 4/2 [He] wears an immense black beard and long black hair, all pomaded and puffed and curled in the most extraordinary fashion.
1891 S. J. Duncan Amer. Girl in London 293 The hairdresser..puffed and curled me.
1914 Clearfield (Pa.) Progress 28 July 3/5 An hour later the modiste has curled and puffed Mary's hair and dressed her beautifully.
1928 R. C. Dorr Susan B. Anthony xix. 245 On their heads the women wear pounds of false hair, braided, puffed and curled.
†5. intransitive. To blow one's breath out abruptly as an expression of contempt or scorn; to exclaim ‘pooh!’ or the like; to speak or behave scornfully. to puff at: to express contempt for, to defy scornfully, to pooh-pooh. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > think or behave contemptuously [verb (intransitive)] > express contempt vocally
hissa1425
puff1490
pup1560
blurt1596
pooh1614
pshaw1760
snort1818
bah1841
poof1915
the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > blustering or bravado > bluster [verb (intransitive)]
face1440
brace1447
ruffle1484
puff1490
to face (something) out with a card of ten?1499
to face with a card of ten?1499
cock1542
to brave it1549
roist1563
huff1598
swagger1600
ruff1602
tear1602
bouncec1626
to bravade the street1634
brustle1648
hector1661
roister1663
huffle1673
ding1679
fluster1698
bully1733
to bluster like bull-beef1785
swell1795
buck1880
swashbuckle1897
loudmouth1931
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > hold in contempt [verb (transitive)] > express contempt of
to puff at1611
to point the finger (of scorn, derision, etc.)a1616
to give (a person) the finger1874
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) i. 25 Yf ye hadde seen hym chaunge his colour, pouff, blowe, as a man cruell prowde and owterageouse.
?1578 W. Patten Let. Entertainm. Killingwoorth 54 The king fumed,..Princes puft, Bar[o]nz blustrd, Lords began too loour.
1611 Bible (King James) Psalms x. 5 As for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. View more context for this quotation
1677 T. Otway Cheats of Scapin ii. i, in Titus & Berenice sig. G3 One that frowns, puffs, and looks big at all Mankind.
1790 M. De Fleury Brit. Liberty Established i. 11 Heav'n puffs at their designs from his high throne, And, frowning, shakes their mighty Babels down.
6.
a. transitive. To praise, extol, or commend, esp. extravagantly, unduly, or in inflated or unjustifiable terms; to make the subject of a laudatory advertisement, review, etc.; to make favourable mention of, promote, publicize. Formerly with †off. Also (occasionally) intransitive. Cf. puff n. 6b.In early use sometimes simply: to utter, proclaim (an encomium, an account of great deeds, etc.).From the later 20th cent. more narrowly defined in U.S. Law: see note s.v. puffing n.2 3a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > commend or praise [verb (transitive)] > for ulterior purpose
puffa1500
bepuff1843
to whoop up1856
boom1879
plug1900
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > advertising > types or methods of advertising > [verb (transitive)] > advertise ostentatiously or extravagantly
quack1646
puff1734
Barnumize1851
boom1879
ballyhoo1911
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 290 (MED) Me pays not that playng to puf nor to blaw.
1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Pistles in tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. F.vii Ennius the oulde Did neuer prease to puffe abrode the feates of battaile fyne, Except he were first whitled well and warmed through with winne.
1734 A. Pope Epist. to Arbuthnot 232 Full-blown Bufo, puff'd by ev'ry quill; Fed with soft Dedication all day long.
1749 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 27 Sept. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1410 Sir Charles Williams has puffed you (as the mob call it) here extremely.
1759 S. Fielding Hist. Countess of Dellwyn II. 283 The Captain proceeded..by puffing off himself.
1782 E. Blower George Bateman II. 60 To puff his performances into notice.
1791 ‘P. Pindar’ Remonstrance 24 I could say such things about myself—But God forbid that I should puff!
1813 W. Scott Familiar Lett. 29 June Each puffed the other in alternate compliments, which were mutually accepted.
1849 Punch Mar. 3 To puff off our sarcenets, and ginghams, and twills, With the names of respectable firms we make free.
1882 Cent. Mag. June 207/2 She came here puffed as a second Jenny Lind; but she was nothing of the sort.
1958 J. Press Chequer'd Shade vii. 140 The war of 1939–45..encouraged professional patriots to puff any verse that might be reckoned a thrilling call to arms.
1984 P. Zweig Walt Whitman (1986) 4 The dubious ethics of anonymously puffing one's own work.
1987 Wilson Libr. Bull. Mar. 70/3 Writing mainly about books with which she was ‘essentially in sympathy’, she could usually find what to praise; but she would never puff.
2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Apr. 9/3 The Locrian Maidens is puffed by the publishers as ‘must reading’ for students.
b. intransitive. Originally: †to act as a decoy in a gambling house (cf. puff n. 8b) (obsolete). Later: to bid at an auction so as to inflate the price of an item; to act as a dummy bidder. Also transitive: to inflate the price of (an item) in this way. Cf. earlier puffer n. 4b, puffing n.2 3b.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > buying > buy [verb (intransitive)] > make various types of bid > raise price by bidding
puff1822
bid1864
1822 H. Luttrell Lett. to Julia ii. 104 Gamblers..puff, 'tis true, but, like the quacks, For puffing pay another tax.
1846 Times 21 Dec. 8/2 The property was puffed by the bankrupt's friends at the second sale far beyond its value.
1977 D. Clark Gimmel Flask iv. 73 If only one person is interested in any item..the interested party is given a clear run, knowing that none of his colleagues will puff.
1995 B. W. Harvey & F. Meisel Auctions Law & Pract. (ed. 2) iii. 41 The defendant maintained that he thought he was being invited to ‘puff’ for the auctioneer and that he had not intended bidding for the property for himself.
7.
a. transitive. To cause (a person) to swell with vanity, pride, or self-importance, or (less commonly) with some other specified emotion, as rage, passion, etc. Chiefly with up. Usually in passive. Cf. puffed adj. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > [verb (transitive)] > make angry
wrethec900
abelgheeOE
abaeileOE
teenOE
i-wrathec1075
wratha1200
awratha1250
gramec1275
forthcalla1300
excitea1340
grieve1362
movea1382
achafea1400
craba1400
angerc1400
mada1425
provokec1425
forwrecchec1450
wrothc1450
arage1470
incensea1513
puff1526
angry1530
despite1530
exasperate1534
exasper1545
stunt1583
pepper1599
enfever1647
nanger1675
to put or set up the back1728
roil1742
outrage1818
to put a person's monkey up1833
to get one's back up1840
to bring one's nap up1843
rouse1843
to get a person's shirt out1844
heat1855
to steam up1860
to get one's rag out1862
steam1922
to burn up1923
to flip out1964
the mind > emotion > pride > swelling or inflation with pride > inflate with pride [verb (transitive)]
swellc1200
bolnea1340
inblowc1384
blow1388
embolne1430
puff1526
inflate1530
puft1563
tympanize1593
overleaven1604
bladder1610
hufflea1652
bloat1677
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Coloss. ii. 18 Causlesse puft vppe with his flesshly mynde.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Cor. viii. A Knowlege puffeth a man vp, but loue edifyeth [mā (man) in text].
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 240v Kynge Iohn..was puffed vp with anger.
1634 T. Heywood Maidenhead Lost ii, in Wks. (1874) IV. 122 There is no change of Fortune Can puffe me or deiect me.
1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 15 Not stain'd with Cruelty, nor puft with Pride.
1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 273 Victory had not puffed him up.
1749 G. West in tr. Pindar Odes Nemean xi. Argt. Lest he should be too much puffed up with these Praises, he reminds him at the same Time of his Mortality.
1795 A. B. Cristall Enthusiast in Poet. Sketches 164 Passion in his bosom wrought, And mischief mingling in the villain's thought With triumphs o'er religion puff'd his mind.
1815 Sporting Mag. 46 156 Being puffed up with rage, they commenced an attack on the temporary paling.
1863 E. V. Neale Analogy Thought & Nature 223 Its tendency is to puff men up with a persuasion of their own greatness.
1908 E. F. Benson Climber x. 160 ‘It is a good thing I did not [hear her compliments],’ she said, ‘or I should have been puffed up.’
1973 W. Soyinka Season of Anomy i. 12 It was a most beneficial thing for us, your coming here all puffed with your sense of mission.
1992 Woman 7 Dec. (Suppl.) 13/2 You could find yourself becoming a little puffed up with your own sense of self-importance.
†b. transitive. With up. To exalt, raise, or promote (a person, institution, etc.) unduly in position or authority. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > power > make powerful [verb (transitive)] > excessively
puff1535
society > society and the community > social class > accord social rank to [verb (transitive)] > elevate or raise to a higher position > unduly
puff1535
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Judges ix. 11 Shal I leaue my swetnes and my good frute, and go to be puft vp aboue the trees?
1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 219 Puffing a Court vp beyond her bounds for their own scrappes and aduantage.
1641 J. Milton Animadversions 44 No more then a speciall endorsement could make to puffe up the foreman of a Iury.
c. intransitive. To behave in a proud or vain manner, to swell with self-importance or self-regard; to swagger.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > be proud [verb (intransitive)] > behave proudly
swella1250
to make it stoutc1315
to bear oneself stout1338
bridlea1475
to make it prouda1500
strut1518
to set up one's bristles1529
strut?c1570
square1584
square1590
swagger1600
to take on1603
puff1633
fluster1698
to hold one's head high1707
crest1713
to set out the shin1719
straddle1802
1633 G. Herbert Temple: Sacred Poems 103 Then came brave Glorie puffing by In silks that whistled.
a1653 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 137 Thus lye they low who did most proudly puff.
1789 W. Dunlap Darby's Return 9 There I swagger'd, Strutted & puff'd, look'd big, drank hard & stagger'd.
1814 W. Scott Waverley II. xii. 190 Others puffed and strutted, filled with the importance of conveying arms. View more context for this quotation
1911 R. Kipling in C. R. L. Fletcher & R. Kipling Hist. Eng. 40 It is always a temptation to a rich and lazy nation, To puff and look important and to say:—‘Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.’
2006 Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) (Nexis) 18 Aug. c1 At the nearby hoop (playing area), men old enough to know better puff and preen far past their prime.

Compounds

† puff-loaf adj. Obsolete rare that causes loaves to swell up or rise.
ΚΠ
1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande iii. f. 12/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I The coalerake sweeping of a pufloafe baker.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

puffint.

Brit. /pʌf/, U.S. /pəf/
Forms: late Middle English puf, 1500s poff, 1600s pooff, 1600s puffe, 1600s– puff.
Origin: An imitative or expressive formation. Etymon: Dutch puf.
Etymology: Imitative. Compare Middle Dutch puf (Dutch puf). Compare earlier puff v., puff n., and later poof int.It is unclear whether the following example, where a belching sound is represented, shows the Middle English or a post-classical Latin word:a1300 in T. Wright Latin Poems Walter Mapes (1841) p. xliv Eructitando inchoat, ‘Laudate Dominum, puf, omnis gens, laudate, puf, et omnis spiritus laudet, puf.’
Representing the act of blowing a puff of air, smoke, etc., or of exhaling breath in a pant or gasp; expressing sudden appearance or disappearance, such as might be accompanied by a puff of air or smoke. In early use also: †expressing contempt or distaste, as conveyed by the emission of a short sharp puff of breath (obsolete). Cf. poof int.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > exclamations of contempt [interjection]
prut?c1300
trutc1330
truptc1380
ahaa1400
tushc1440
puff1481
quotha?1520
ah?1526
ta ha1528
twish1577
blurt1592
gip1592
pish1592
tantia1593
(God) bless (also save) the mark1593
phah1593
marry come up1597
mew1600
pooh1600
marry muff1602
pew waw1602
ptish1602
pew1604
push1605
pshaw1607
tuh1607
pea1608
poh1650
pooh pooh1694
hoity-toity1695
highty-tighty1699
quoz?1780
indeed1834
shuck1847
skidoo1906
suck1913
zut1915
yah boo1921
pooey1927
ptui1930
snubs1934
upya1941
yah boo sucks1980
the world > matter > gas > air > moving air > [interjection] > blowing in puffs
puff1481
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > continuous or protracted sound > [interjection] > rushing sound > rushing of wind blowing
puff1604
whuff1919
1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 56 Puf [Du. puf] said the foxe,..be ye so sore aferd herof?
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 17 (MED) Puf! this smoke dos me mych shame.
1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore sig. I4v The winde is alwayes at that doore: hearke how it blowes, pooff, pooff, pooff.
1606 G. Chapman Sir Gyles Goosecappe v. sig. I4v Puffe, is there not a feather in this ayre A man may challenge for her?
1620 Swetnam Arraign'd i. ii. A iv Puffe, giue me some ayre, I am almost stifled, puffe, Oh, my sides!
?1620 S. Rowlands Paire of Spy-Knaves (Hunterian Club) 20 I'le teach thee..To take Tobacco like a Caualeere. Thus draw the vapor thorow your nose, and say, Puffe, it is gone, fuming the smoke away.
1682 A. Behn Roundheads iv. i. 34 What a Change is here like to be,—puff puff—we have manag'd matters sweetly—to let the Scotch General undermine us; puff, puff.
1700 W. Congreve Way of World iii. i. 46 And a—(puff) and a flap Dragon for your Service, Sir..an you be so cold and so courtly!
1778 G. Colman Bonduca iii. 25 Dec. Where's your love now? Jun. Puff! there it flies.
1800 C. Smith Wild Youth II. iv. 38 I shall fire alarm guns—Piff! Paff! Puff!
1821 S. Beazley Love's Dream ii. 22 The moment the sun rises, for ghosts are always afraid of day light—puff, 'tis off—shuts itself up in the wall, or flies away upon an invisible broom-stick.
1870 M. Bridgman Robert Lynne I. iv. 55 ‘I have found it so’—puff, puff [smoking a cigar].
a1935 R. Loraine in W. Loraine Robert Loraine (1938) vi. 106 The machine leapt higher, so did my heart, higher still—then—puff!—I came to earth, having stalled and crashed.
1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. Dufty Lady sings Blues xviii. 166 One of the matrons comes around with a white glove on her hands, and there better not be any dust on anything, or puff, there go those cigarettes again.
1996 Daily Tel. 9 Nov. (Young Tel. section) 4/3 Ugh! Here... Puff... See how you get on with these. Whoof! Careful now, Those are heavy!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.adj.lOEv.OEint.1481
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