puffingn.²

Brit.

/ˈpʌfɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈpəfɪŋ/

Forms: see puff v. and -ing suffix¹.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: puff v., -ing suffix¹.

Etymology: < puff v. + -ing suffix¹.

a. The action of blowing in short sharp blasts, panting, or emitting puffs of air, smoke, steam, etc.; an instance of this; the sound made by such action. Also: bombast, bluster; = huffing n. 2.In quot. a1475: (perhaps) belching.

ΚΠ

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 132 A lytil puffynge of wynd [L. venti modicus impulsus] quakeþ and tendiþ leye.

a1475 J. Russell Bk. Nurture (Harl. 4011) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 136 Good son, þy tethe be not pikynge..ne stynkynge of brethe on youre souerayne castynge; with puffynge ne blowynge, nowþer fulle ne fastynge.

1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. B ij b So stepe be these bankes on eyther syde and depe,..that who goeth straight doune shalbe in daunger of tumbling, & the commer vp so sure of puffyng & payne.

1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xx. 84 To eager walking..encreaseth puffing and blowing.

1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum 337 A full little puffing of winde, kindleth and stirreth up flame.

1608 T. Heywood Rape Lucrece in Wks. (1874) V. 200 The seas have left their rowling, The waves their huffing, the winds their puffing.

a1652 R. Brome Queenes Exchange (1657) v. i. sig. F2 ^v/1 I heard nothing..but usuall sleepy sounds, Puffing and blowing, snorting farting and such like.

1714 Spectator No. 558. ⁋4 Another, after a great deal of puffing, threw down his Luggage.

1799 G. Holford Storm i. ii. 33 Old Father Wind, belike, has crack'd his Bellows In last night's puffing.

1849 F. B. Head Stokers & Pokers (1851) iii. 41 The loud puffing of an engine announces the approach..of empty carriages.

1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It lxxiv. 537 You are sweeping down a river on a..steamer, and..you hear..the puffing from her escape-pipes.

1926 E. A. Powell In Barbary vi. 99 With a great wheezing and puffing, a little covered motor-van came..toward us.

1942 Penguin New Writing 15 92 He pretends to be more interested in the antics of his birds than in the puffings an' blowings of a sourpuss of a council clerk.

1971 Dict. National Biogr. 1951–60 871/2 The huge chimneys..hint, in the strength and delicacy of their design, at the puffing of smoke in tall clouds.

2003 Nature 24 July 372/2 These impressive sensory abilities are used for..communicating with hivemates by means of diverse shakings, tappings and buzzings, and puffings of chemicals.

b. The action of drawing on a pipe, cigar, etc. Cf. puff v. 1d.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > [noun] > a smoke or inhalation

whiff1600

quiff1617

draught1621

puffing1675

draw1823

shoch1831

pull1841

blow1855

reek1876

drag1914

inhale1934

1675 Mock Songs & Joking Poems 85 With Pipe after Pipe, we still keep in motion, In Puffing: and Smoking, like Guns on the Ocean.

1785 H. Swinburne Trav. in Two Sicilies II. xxxii. 237 I..suffered him without interruption to smoke his pipe, and in the intervals of his puffing to run on in a long string of stories.

1863 E. C. Gaskell Sylvia's Lovers I. v. 89 Daniel had taken his pipe out..and was preparing to diversify his remarks with satisfying interludes of puffing.

1899 Nebraska State Jrnl. 15 Jan. 12/6 The scientific smoker..obtains more enjoyment from his puffing than the ordinary smoker.

1968 ‘A. D'Arcangelo’ Homosexual Handbk. 104 I don't care what the marriage manuals say, a little puffing may get you the big O, but a puff or two of the right stuff will get you the big OOOOOOOO.

2003 X-Ray May 42/1 It's not just a case of mere puffing; rock fag style is all about ‘how’ you smoke your tabs.

c. Botany. The sudden discharge of a cloud of spores by certain fungi. Cf. puff v. 1f.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > parts of > discharge of spores

puffing1887

1887 H. E. F. Garnsey & I. B. Balfour tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Morphol. & Biol. Fungi iii. 89 Many of the Discomycetes have the peculiar habit of ‘puffing’ [Ger. zu stäuben].., of suddenly discharging a whole cloud of spores.

1922 E. W. Swanton Fungi & how to know Them (ed. 2) i. ii. 19 The phenomenon, known as ‘puffing’, often takes place immediately after the fungus is handled.

1976 G. C. Ainsworth Introd. Hist. Mycol. vii. 196 Micheli..was also the first to record and illustrate the visible ‘puffing’ of spores from the ascocarps of discomycetes.

1994 New Phytologist 126 177/1 In Lycogala, the miniature puff-balls have a typical puffing-mechanism.

a. The action or an act of distending something by blowing, or by the accumulation of gas, liquid, etc.; the fact of being or becoming distended in this way; inflation, swelling (also with up). Also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > [noun] > distension > swelling or swollenness > swelling up

raisinga1425

puffing1495

upswelling1548

uprising1598

heave1833

1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) v. xlii. sig. k v/2 Puffynge and wyndynge of the guttes.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 259/1 Puffyng up, inflation.

1556 T. Hill tr. B. Cocles Brief Epitomye Phisiognomie sig. D4 The face very flatte, or playne, without verye high puffyng or bearyng up: declareth that man to be of a good condicion.

1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 71^v The puffings vppe of your soules.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 555 A muske-cat..doth loosen and dissolue all thicke puffinges or windinesse in the interior parts.

1671 J. Sharp Midwives Bk. v. xii. 308 (heading) Of the Swelling and Puffing up of the Body, especially the Belly and the Feet of Women after Delivery.

1750 M. Jones Misc. in Prose & Verse 181 A kind of religious Frenzy, which..manifests itself chiefly in..feeling violent inflations and puffings up, and writing ventiloquent Journals of the Spirit.

1853 J. T. Trowbridge Deserted Family xvi. 205 I felt a puffing up of my right eye.

1935 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 27 Mar. d13/5 Sometimes..the globe fish overdoes its puffing—it may swallow so much air or water that it bursts wide open.

1981 Cook's Mag. Sept. 26/2 Always use top grade unsalted butter; not only is it generally fresher than salted butter but salt adds extra weight and inhibits puffing.

2000 Jrnl. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 29 Dec. 36 That nausea, general weakness, extreme thirst and puffing of the eyes should have slowly staggered its way into the memory bank by the time the next alcoholic drink comes along.

b. The action or an act of causing something to be enlarged or filled out by the addition of stuffing or padding (also with up). Also figurative. Also: a puffed mass of material on a garment, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > trimmings or ornamentation > puff

puffing1593

puff1601

puffery1859

bouillon1869

1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 71^v It is not..your floury iaggings, superfluous enterlacings, and puffings vppe, that can any way offend God, but the puffings vppe of your soules.

a1618 J. Sylvester Hymn of Almes 206 The puffing of his Periwig.

1800 Lady's Monthly Museum July 72 With a puffing of muslin before and behind.

1862 Frank Leslie's Illustr. Newspaper 9 Aug. 318/1 The expanse of a broad chest affords a fine field for the once snowy shirt-bosom of Parisian pretensions and fine material formed of divers puffing and plaiting.

1909 Draper 20 Mar. 274/2 Narrow puffings of tulle.

1933 H. Norris Costume & Fashion VI. i. 35 A ‘turban à la Mameluk’ had an inverted flower-pot or fez of gold tissue surrounded by a full puffing of white satin.

1992 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 9 Feb. 25/1 Not that this material is entirely irrelevant, but its inclusion in toto is like an infusion of sludge into a brook... The puffing up of his manuscript has also had an unhappy effect on the author's style.

c. Cell Biology. The occurrence or formation of puffs on a chromosome. Cf. puff n. 4f, puffed adj. 2d.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > chromosome > part or section > condition

puffing1938

1938 Genetics 23 159 Intermediate degrees of ‘puffing’ show the bands or discs in various stages of disruption.

1970 Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quantitative Biol. 35 534/1 Periods of greatest puffing activity are seen as the animals molt from one instar to the next.

1993 Nature 1 Apr. 471/2 Ecdysone in Drosophila has been a paradigm for steroid hormones since its ability to induce gene activity directly was demonstrated by its effects on moulting and polytene chromosome puffing.

a. The giving of extravagant or unwarranted praise or commendation; promotion or advertisement through the writing or publication of puffs. Also with up.In U.S. Law now used spec. to refer to an exaggerated opinion (in contrast to a factual assertion) expressed for the purpose of advertising, regarded as legally permissible.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > [noun] > excessive

overpraisinga1250

advancea1400

puffing1593

overpraise1691

bepraisement1831

ballyhooing1902

1593 G. Harvey New Let. Notable Contents sig. D^v It is not puffing, or blustring in bombasted termes..but the fine and sweet course of Vertue..that performeth worthy actions.

1662 G. Torriano New Fabrick Ital. Dialogues 87 in Piazza Universale (1666) You have made a fine story, pretty jeers; these puffings up please me not.

1754 A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 91 The above is not in the ordinary Way of puffing, but to promote the real Benefit of the Community.

1771 N.Y. Gaz. & Weekly Mercury 4 Nov. 2/4 (advt.) Puffing, and a pompous Parade of cheap selling, is of late become so fashionable [etc.].

1805 Monthly Reg. Mar. 125 The more fastidious, crabbed critics, undertook to declare that it was all stuff, and nonsensical puffing.

1833 J. S. Mill Let. 5 Oct. (1910) I. 70 The puffing system has worn itself out,..and a united chorus of praise from all the press will scarcely now sell fifty copies of any work.

1870 R. W. Emerson Success in Wks. (1906) III. 119 In this life of show, puffing, advertisement, and manufacture of public opinion.

1894 Dict. National Biogr. XXXVII. 48/1 Marred by..the shameless puffing of his own works by Mathias.

1984 H. Carpenter & M. Prichard Oxf. Compan. Children's Lit. 375/2 Newbery's style of children's publishing was characterized..by constant advertising and uninhibited puffing of his own wares.

2001 I. Ayres Pervasive Prejudice v. 142 Puffing, or the making of excessive representations by salespeople during their attempts to sell cars, is often regarded by courts as inactionable.

b. The action or strategy of artificially inflating the price of an item for sale, esp. by acting as a dummy bidder at an auction.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > buying > [noun] > bidding or offering to buy > for purpose of inflating price

puffing1629

sweetening1896

trotting1969

1629 R. M. Micrologia sig. B8 The greatest harme hee ha's done in the Common wealth, is his puffing of Sea-coale to so high a Price.

1784 W. Huntington God, Poor Man's Guardian Ded. p. xiv It appears, in my opinion, too much like the Satanic art of puffing at an auction.

1829 H. W. Woolrych Prac. Treat. Commercial & Mercantile Law ii. 262 Puffing is illegal, according to a late case, even though there be only one puffer.

1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law iv. 22 You may..appoint a person to bid for you at the sale, in order to prevent the estate from being sold at an undervalue. This is generally termed puffing.

1922 Yale Law Jrnl. 31 434 In reference to puffing his position was anomalous, for if his bid had been accepted he could have been compelled to complete the sale.

1995 B. W. Harvey & F. Meisel Auctions Law & Practice (ed. 2) vi. 182 In some cases the ‘puffing’ may have only prompted the making of bids by genuine bidders, in others the buyer may have been the sole genuine bidder.

†4. Perhaps: a powder puff. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot iii. vii. 112 This Machavillian..never went without a small Box of Powder, or dryed Meale, and his Puffings.

Compounds

puffing hole n. a hole in rock through which spouts of seawater or bursts of volcanic steam are emitted; a blowhole.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > seashore or coast > [noun] > chimney through which sea spouts

puffing hole1853

blowhole1858

1853 U.S. Rev. Jan. 13 The entire coast was remarkable for strangely shaped headlands, volcanic and basaltic formations, natural bridges, puffing holes, and all those natural wonders which render some sea-boards so interesting.

1926 Zanesville (Ohio) Signal 24 Oct. At the mouths of the puffing holes, both natural and artificial, the pressure of steam remains always the same.

1998 Holiday UK Apr.–May 75/2 There are many court-tombs in the area, a puffing hole with subterranean channel to the sea, and Dun Briste, a dramatic sea stack.

† puffing tube n. Obsolete rare a blowpipe.

ΚΠ

1883 F. Day Indian Fish 68 Malabar puffing tube, with darts used for killing fish.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

puffingadj.n.¹

Brit.

/ˈpʌfɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈpəfɪŋ/

Forms: see puff v. and -ing suffix²; also Old English pipfendes (genitive, perhaps transmission error).

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: puff v., -ing suffix².

Etymology: < puff v. + -ing suffix².

1. That emits or delivers puffs of air, smoke, steam, etc.; (of the wind) blowing in puffs or gusts; (of a person) panting, breathless. Also: characterized or accompanied by puffs of wind, breath, etc. In Old English also as n.: a person who emits puffs of breath, a living person.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > [adjective] > of breath: short > panting

puffingOE

panting1616

pantling1652

panking1746

hyperpnœic1909

OE Aldhelm Glosses (Digby 146) in A. S. Napier Old Eng. Glosses (1900) 51/1 Reciproco spirantis flatu : edlæsendum piffendes [OE Brussels 1650 pipfendes] blæde.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Wisd. xvii. 17 Ouþer puffynge [v.r. puffende; a1425 L.V. hissynge; Latin sibilans] wynd or sweete soun of briddis..maden þem failing for drede.

1570 J. Drout Pityfull Hist. Two Louing Italians sig. Avij Now boystrous Boreas hath left off his puffing blastes to blowe.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella (1591) 43 Forst by Nature still to flie, First did with puffing kisse those Lockes display.

1588 R. Greene Pandosto sig. C4 Fortune..thought..after a puffing storme, to bring a pretty calme.

1620 Swetnam Arraign'd (1880) 9 From whence comm'st thou in such a puffing heate?

1668 W. Charleton Onomasticon Zoicon 167 Balæna Physeter..the puffing, or spouting Whale.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 129 One brawny Smith the puffing Bellows plyes.

1725 J. Armstrong Imitations Shakespeare in Misc. (1770) I. 150 The bleak puffing winds, that seem to spit Their foam sparse thro' the welkin.

1783 H. Cowley Which is the Man? Prol. sig. A2 No puffing miners have I here in pay, To sap their works, or turn their covert way.

1822 Examiner 16 June 380/2 Her fan, which..he is essaying to pick up by a puffing and perspirable exertion.

1852 Alton (Illinois) Weekly Courier 18 June Her Mills, with their puffing engines, supplying the country round.

1906 U. Sinclair Jungle i. 15 In vain would the puffing and breathless ponas Jokubas insist, in vain would Teta Elzbieta implore.

1948 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Jrnl. 18 July 6/3 The huffing and puffing steam dinkeys..still see service when traffic is heavy.

1989 J. Purdy Garments Living Wear xi. 52 One progresses to puffing old age during which we no longer run up the stairs or leap out of bed on two feet.

2004 Standard (St. Catherines, Ont.) (Nexis) 25 June a6 It's quiet on the roof... Only the puffing wind and the murmurs of a gym class on the grass below.

†2. Swollen with vanity, pride, etc.; self-important, pompous; haughty, scornful; = puffed adj. 1. Cf. huffing adj. 2. Obsolete.In quot. 1567: (of language) such as a self-important or pompous person might utter; overblown, bombastic.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > [adjective] > contemptuous > expressing contempt vocally

puffing1566

pooh-poohy1876

pooh-poohing1903

the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > blustering or bravado > [adjective]

termagant1546

roisterly1555

swashing1556

puffing1566

roisting1567

cocking1568

braving1579

huffling1582

kill-cow1589

roister-doistering1593

roister-doisterly1593

hufty-tufty1596

swaggering1596

huff-cap1597

sword-and-buckler1598

huffing1602

pyrgopolinizing1605

bold-beatinga1616

swash1635

swaga1640

blustering1652

bravashing1652

hectoring1664

hectorly1676

huffy1677

huff-snuff1693

swashbuckling1693

flustering1698

blustery1739

huffish1755

bravading1812

topping1815

Bobadilish1832

Bobadilian1837

fanfaronading1837

bucko1883

swashbucklering1884

swaggery1886

blokeish1920

blokey1938

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [adjective] > inflated or bombastic

fleshyc1369

windya1382

unmeasureda1425

puffing1566

embossed1578

puffed1587

bombasted1589

fustian1592

puffya1594

full-mouthed1594

orificial1594

gouty1595

swelling1597

mouth-filling1598

taffeta1598

bombast1601

tiptoe-strouting1602

turgidous1602

swollen1605

dropsieda1616

exsufflicatea1616

turgent1621

ampullous1622

tympanous1625

high-flown1632

tumorousa1637

blustered1638

tumid1648

bombastical1649

ranting1650

inflated1652

tuftaffetya1658

pompiona1670

bombastic1704

dropsical1721

thundering1725

turgid1725

exsuffolate1744

Lexiphanic1767

hi cockalorum1783

Ossianic1788

mouthing1814

mouthy1827

sophomoric1837

highfalutin1839

sophomorical1847

spread eagle1853

tumescent1882

Herodian1886

Ossianesque1889

Barnumesque1890

1566 T. Stapleton Returne Vntruthes Jewelles Replie i. f. 29^v What is Impudency, what is Puffing Pride,..if this be not?

1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. Bvij He that dothe belch out puffinge rymes [L. Hic, dum sublimis uersus ructatur].

1583 R. Greene Mamillia i. f. 27 A cooling carde of misfortune to pluck down the puffing peate of prosperitie.

1592 R. Greene Vision sig. B3 The puffing glorie of the loftie stile shadowing wanton conceipts.

1687 T. Brown Cal. Reform'd in Duke of Buckingham et al. Misc. Wks. (1704) 230 Thou huffing, puffing, Sconce-building Ruffian.

1763 H. S. J. Giral del Pino Dict. Spanish & Eng. I Temeron, a bully, a braggadocio, a puffing fellow.

1791 C. Smith Celestina II. x. 226 Captain Thorold, (it was that puffing fellow I was most afraid of,) had not, I believe, the least interest.

1819 W. Scott Legend of Montrose ii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. III. 185 A galling thing it is..to yield preference to every puffing signior.

1838 C. Dickens Sketches Young Gentlemen 60 There is a certain kind of impostor—a bragging, vaunting, puffing young gentleman—against whom we are desirous to warn that fairer part of the creation.

†3. Liable to cause a person to swell with pride, arrogance, etc. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia iii. sig. D1 Taught to moderate, Thy mounting thought, nor to be eleuate With puffingst fortunes?

1605 B. Jonson Sejanus ii. sig. D4 Windy praise, And puffing hopes of her aspiring Sonnes.

1652 E. Benlowes Theophila xiii. vii. 236 No puffing Hopes, no shrinking Fears Them fright.

4. Swelling, inflating; becoming puffed-up. Also with up. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > protuberance or rounded projection > [adjective]

fullOE

balghc1340

struttinga1398

bouchy1398

bunching1398

bunchy1398

lumpedc1425

bunched1426

bulged1436

knule?a1513

bolling1519

bossed?1541

bossy1543

swelling1544

poked1577

embossed1578

extuberant1578

protuberant1578

protuberated1578

protuberating1578

protubered1578

bunting1584

bellieda1593

gouty1595

bottled1597

buddy1611

hulch1611

hulched1611

jetty?1611

bottle-like1629

bungy1634

extuberating1634

bosomed1646

puffing1661

protuberous1666

tuberant1668

extuberic1680

swollen1688

bellying1700

swelled1704

humped1713

extuberated1727

bottle-shaped1731

ampullaceous1776

hummocky1791

bulging1812

bulgy1847

ampulliform1870

fullish1871

pouchy1884

bumfled1913

1661 R. Boyle Physico-chym. Ess. Salt-petre in Certain Physiol. Ess. 111 Unlesse it chance that the puffing matter do blow the coal too soon out of the Crucible.

1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xx. 259 The willows are sappy and puffing.

2006 www.huffingtonpost.com 12 Sept. (O.E.D. Archive) From the first kicks in a puffing-up stomach to the first moments after birth, you melt into the other.

5. That praises something or someone extravagantly; engaged in or practising puffery. Also: of the nature of a puff; extravagantly or unduly laudatory.

ΚΠ

1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man Epil. 75 As puffing quacks some caitiff wretch procure To swear the pill, or drop, has wrought a cure.

1799 Royal Gaz. (New York) 21 Apr. (advt.) The convenient Portability of a Powder for the ready making of Ink speaks sufficiently for itself and needs no puffing encomiums on its utility to recommend it.

1805 Sporting Mag. 25 187 Without the quackery of puffing advertisements.

1831 Fraser's Mag. 3 113 The..puffing bepraisement of the Court Journal.

1908 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 1 May (advt.) It does not need any puffing praise of exaggerated advertisement.

1963 S. P. Moss Poe's Literary Battles i. 36 Whitman owned to having inserted three puffing reviews of his Leaves of Grass in three periodicals.

2003 Sunday Times (Nexis) 27 Apr. 38 That coterie of mutually puffing evolutionary psychologists..who specialise in placing hyperbolic praise on the book jackets of their friends.

Compounds

Puffing Billy n. a steam locomotive or steam train; also in extended use.The first steam locomotive to run successfully on rails was built by William Hedley for use at Wylam colliery, Northumberland, in 1813, and was apparently named ‘Puffing Billy’ at or soon after this date (see quot. 1864).

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > locomotive > steam locomotive

steam locomotive1812

steam-engine1815

steamer1837

Puffing Billy1848

1848 Times 15 Feb. 8/4 I think they called it a locomotive, but the men generally called it a ‘puffing Billy’.

1864 Illustr. London News 15 Oct. 392/1 On the south side of the Museum are a couple of locomotive engines..one is the oldest locomotive engine in existence..the original old ‘Puffing Billy’... Upon one side of it hangs a document dated 1815, from which it appears some great objection had been made by local landowners to the ‘puffing’ propensities of the aforesaid ‘Billy’.

1895 A. Patterson Man & Nature on Broads 61 Them puffin-Billies ha' turned all that over.

1922 H. Van Loon Story of Mankind (1927) 409 At the present time, any well-behaved flivver..can do better than these early ‘Puffing Billies’.

1977 Times 19 Apr. 5/5 (caption) A replica of an early American ‘Puffing Billy’..at the National Railway Museum, York.

2001 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 14 July r30 Take the train this Christmas. Not just any old puffing billy but the trans-Siberian.

puffing pig n. chiefly U.S. the common porpoise, Phocoena phocoena; cf. puffer n. 3c, puff-pig n. at puff n. and adj. Compounds 2.

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

1845 J. Coulter Adventures Pacific iii. 28 Shoals of a small kind of porpoise, commonly called puffing pigs.

1884 Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 27. 640 Phocœna brachycion, Cope. Puffing Pig. Herring Hog. Atlantic coast of the United States.

2004 Western Mail (Wales) (Nexis) 10 Apr. 6 Harbour porpoises are sometimes called the puffing pig as the creatures can be heard making puffing noises from the shoreline as they take a breath on the surface.

Derivatives

ˈpuffingly adv.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > [adverb] > shortness of breath

out of breath1565

puffingly1770

1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Tumidamente, swellingly, puffingly.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Boufément, puffingly.

1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality (Dublin ed.) V. 343 Dobson and his dame coming diffidently but puffingly up the Avenue.

1853 Harper's Monthly Jan. 193/2 ‘How dee do, John?’ commenced the old lady, puffingly.

1905 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 98/2 A fat Turkish apothecary puffingly struggles up our ship's side.

1979 J. Melville Wages of Zen i. 4 He clambered puffingly into his car.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	puffing
释义	puffingn.² Brit. /ˈpʌfɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpəfɪŋ/ Forms: see puff v. and -ing suffix¹. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: puff v., -ing suffix¹. Etymology: < puff v. + -ing suffix¹. 1. a. The action of blowing in short sharp blasts, panting, or emitting puffs of air, smoke, steam, etc.; an instance of this; the sound made by such action. Also: bombast, bluster; = huffing n. 2.In quot. a1475: (perhaps) belching. ΚΠ a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 132 A lytil puffynge of wynd [L. venti modicus impulsus] quakeþ and tendiþ leye. a1475 J. Russell Bk. Nurture (Harl. 4011) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 136 Good son, þy tethe be not pikynge..ne stynkynge of brethe on youre souerayne castynge; with puffynge ne blowynge, nowþer fulle ne fastynge. 1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. B ij b So stepe be these bankes on eyther syde and depe,..that who goeth straight doune shalbe in daunger of tumbling, & the commer vp so sure of puffyng & payne. 1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xx. 84 To eager walking..encreaseth puffing and blowing. 1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum 337 A full little puffing of winde, kindleth and stirreth up flame. 1608 T. Heywood Rape Lucrece in Wks. (1874) V. 200 The seas have left their rowling, The waves their huffing, the winds their puffing. a1652 R. Brome Queenes Exchange (1657) v. i. sig. F2 ^v/1 I heard nothing..but usuall sleepy sounds, Puffing and blowing, snorting farting and such like. 1714 Spectator No. 558. ⁋4 Another, after a great deal of puffing, threw down his Luggage. 1799 G. Holford Storm i. ii. 33 Old Father Wind, belike, has crack'd his Bellows In last night's puffing. 1849 F. B. Head Stokers & Pokers (1851) iii. 41 The loud puffing of an engine announces the approach..of empty carriages. 1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It lxxiv. 537 You are sweeping down a river on a..steamer, and..you hear..the puffing from her escape-pipes. 1926 E. A. Powell In Barbary vi. 99 With a great wheezing and puffing, a little covered motor-van came..toward us. 1942 Penguin New Writing 15 92 He pretends to be more interested in the antics of his birds than in the puffings an' blowings of a sourpuss of a council clerk. 1971 Dict. National Biogr. 1951–60 871/2 The huge chimneys..hint, in the strength and delicacy of their design, at the puffing of smoke in tall clouds. 2003 Nature 24 July 372/2 These impressive sensory abilities are used for..communicating with hivemates by means of diverse shakings, tappings and buzzings, and puffings of chemicals. b. The action of drawing on a pipe, cigar, etc. Cf. puff v. 1d. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > [noun] > a smoke or inhalation whiff1600 quiff1617 draught1621 puffing1675 draw1823 shoch1831 pull1841 blow1855 reek1876 drag1914 inhale1934 1675 Mock Songs & Joking Poems 85 With Pipe after Pipe, we still keep in motion, In Puffing: and Smoking, like Guns on the Ocean. 1785 H. Swinburne Trav. in Two Sicilies II. xxxii. 237 I..suffered him without interruption to smoke his pipe, and in the intervals of his puffing to run on in a long string of stories. 1863 E. C. Gaskell Sylvia's Lovers I. v. 89 Daniel had taken his pipe out..and was preparing to diversify his remarks with satisfying interludes of puffing. 1899 Nebraska State Jrnl. 15 Jan. 12/6 The scientific smoker..obtains more enjoyment from his puffing than the ordinary smoker. 1968 ‘A. D'Arcangelo’ Homosexual Handbk. 104 I don't care what the marriage manuals say, a little puffing may get you the big O, but a puff or two of the right stuff will get you the big OOOOOOOO. 2003 X-Ray May 42/1 It's not just a case of mere puffing; rock fag style is all about ‘how’ you smoke your tabs. c. Botany. The sudden discharge of a cloud of spores by certain fungi. Cf. puff v. 1f. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > parts of > discharge of spores puffing1887 1887 H. E. F. Garnsey & I. B. Balfour tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Morphol. & Biol. Fungi iii. 89 Many of the Discomycetes have the peculiar habit of ‘puffing’ [Ger. zu stäuben].., of suddenly discharging a whole cloud of spores. 1922 E. W. Swanton Fungi & how to know Them (ed. 2) i. ii. 19 The phenomenon, known as ‘puffing’, often takes place immediately after the fungus is handled. 1976 G. C. Ainsworth Introd. Hist. Mycol. vii. 196 Micheli..was also the first to record and illustrate the visible ‘puffing’ of spores from the ascocarps of discomycetes. 1994 New Phytologist 126 177/1 In Lycogala, the miniature puff-balls have a typical puffing-mechanism. 2. a. The action or an act of distending something by blowing, or by the accumulation of gas, liquid, etc.; the fact of being or becoming distended in this way; inflation, swelling (also with up). Also figurative. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > [noun] > distension > swelling or swollenness > swelling up raisinga1425 puffing1495 upswelling1548 uprising1598 heave1833 1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) v. xlii. sig. k v/2 Puffynge and wyndynge of the guttes. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 259/1 Puffyng up, inflation. 1556 T. Hill tr. B. Cocles Brief Epitomye Phisiognomie sig. D4 The face very flatte, or playne, without verye high puffyng or bearyng up: declareth that man to be of a good condicion. 1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 71^v The puffings vppe of your soules. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 555 A muske-cat..doth loosen and dissolue all thicke puffinges or windinesse in the interior parts. 1671 J. Sharp Midwives Bk. v. xii. 308 (heading) Of the Swelling and Puffing up of the Body, especially the Belly and the Feet of Women after Delivery. 1750 M. Jones Misc. in Prose & Verse 181 A kind of religious Frenzy, which..manifests itself chiefly in..feeling violent inflations and puffings up, and writing ventiloquent Journals of the Spirit. 1853 J. T. Trowbridge Deserted Family xvi. 205 I felt a puffing up of my right eye. 1935 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 27 Mar. d13/5 Sometimes..the globe fish overdoes its puffing—it may swallow so much air or water that it bursts wide open. 1981 Cook's Mag. Sept. 26/2 Always use top grade unsalted butter; not only is it generally fresher than salted butter but salt adds extra weight and inhibits puffing. 2000 Jrnl. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 29 Dec. 36 That nausea, general weakness, extreme thirst and puffing of the eyes should have slowly staggered its way into the memory bank by the time the next alcoholic drink comes along. b. The action or an act of causing something to be enlarged or filled out by the addition of stuffing or padding (also with up). Also figurative. Also: a puffed mass of material on a garment, etc. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > trimmings or ornamentation > puff puffing1593 puff1601 puffery1859 bouillon1869 1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 71^v It is not..your floury iaggings, superfluous enterlacings, and puffings vppe, that can any way offend God, but the puffings vppe of your soules. a1618 J. Sylvester Hymn of Almes 206 The puffing of his Periwig. 1800 Lady's Monthly Museum July 72 With a puffing of muslin before and behind. 1862 Frank Leslie's Illustr. Newspaper 9 Aug. 318/1 The expanse of a broad chest affords a fine field for the once snowy shirt-bosom of Parisian pretensions and fine material formed of divers puffing and plaiting. 1909 Draper 20 Mar. 274/2 Narrow puffings of tulle. 1933 H. Norris Costume & Fashion VI. i. 35 A ‘turban à la Mameluk’ had an inverted flower-pot or fez of gold tissue surrounded by a full puffing of white satin. 1992 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 9 Feb. 25/1 Not that this material is entirely irrelevant, but its inclusion in toto is like an infusion of sludge into a brook... The puffing up of his manuscript has also had an unhappy effect on the author's style. c. Cell Biology. The occurrence or formation of puffs on a chromosome. Cf. puff n. 4f, puffed adj. 2d. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > chromosome > part or section > condition puffing1938 1938 Genetics 23 159 Intermediate degrees of ‘puffing’ show the bands or discs in various stages of disruption. 1970 Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quantitative Biol. 35 534/1 Periods of greatest puffing activity are seen as the animals molt from one instar to the next. 1993 Nature 1 Apr. 471/2 Ecdysone in Drosophila has been a paradigm for steroid hormones since its ability to induce gene activity directly was demonstrated by its effects on moulting and polytene chromosome puffing. 3. a. The giving of extravagant or unwarranted praise or commendation; promotion or advertisement through the writing or publication of puffs. Also with up.In U.S. Law now used spec. to refer to an exaggerated opinion (in contrast to a factual assertion) expressed for the purpose of advertising, regarded as legally permissible. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > [noun] > excessive overpraisinga1250 advancea1400 puffing1593 overpraise1691 bepraisement1831 ballyhooing1902 1593 G. Harvey New Let. Notable Contents sig. D^v It is not puffing, or blustring in bombasted termes..but the fine and sweet course of Vertue..that performeth worthy actions. 1662 G. Torriano New Fabrick Ital. Dialogues 87 in Piazza Universale (1666) You have made a fine story, pretty jeers; these puffings up please me not. 1754 A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 91 The above is not in the ordinary Way of puffing, but to promote the real Benefit of the Community. 1771 N.Y. Gaz. & Weekly Mercury 4 Nov. 2/4 (advt.) Puffing, and a pompous Parade of cheap selling, is of late become so fashionable [etc.]. 1805 Monthly Reg. Mar. 125 The more fastidious, crabbed critics, undertook to declare that it was all stuff, and nonsensical puffing. 1833 J. S. Mill Let. 5 Oct. (1910) I. 70 The puffing system has worn itself out,..and a united chorus of praise from all the press will scarcely now sell fifty copies of any work. 1870 R. W. Emerson Success in Wks. (1906) III. 119 In this life of show, puffing, advertisement, and manufacture of public opinion. 1894 Dict. National Biogr. XXXVII. 48/1 Marred by..the shameless puffing of his own works by Mathias. 1984 H. Carpenter & M. Prichard Oxf. Compan. Children's Lit. 375/2 Newbery's style of children's publishing was characterized..by constant advertising and uninhibited puffing of his own wares. 2001 I. Ayres Pervasive Prejudice v. 142 Puffing, or the making of excessive representations by salespeople during their attempts to sell cars, is often regarded by courts as inactionable. b. The action or strategy of artificially inflating the price of an item for sale, esp. by acting as a dummy bidder at an auction. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > buying > [noun] > bidding or offering to buy > for purpose of inflating price puffing1629 sweetening1896 trotting1969 1629 R. M. Micrologia sig. B8 The greatest harme hee ha's done in the Common wealth, is his puffing of Sea-coale to so high a Price. 1784 W. Huntington God, Poor Man's Guardian Ded. p. xiv It appears, in my opinion, too much like the Satanic art of puffing at an auction. 1829 H. W. Woolrych Prac. Treat. Commercial & Mercantile Law ii. 262 Puffing is illegal, according to a late case, even though there be only one puffer. 1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law iv. 22 You may..appoint a person to bid for you at the sale, in order to prevent the estate from being sold at an undervalue. This is generally termed puffing. 1922 Yale Law Jrnl. 31 434 In reference to puffing his position was anomalous, for if his bid had been accepted he could have been compelled to complete the sale. 1995 B. W. Harvey & F. Meisel Auctions Law & Practice (ed. 2) vi. 182 In some cases the ‘puffing’ may have only prompted the making of bids by genuine bidders, in others the buyer may have been the sole genuine bidder. †4. Perhaps: a powder puff. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot iii. vii. 112 This Machavillian..never went without a small Box of Powder, or dryed Meale, and his Puffings. Compounds puffing hole n. a hole in rock through which spouts of seawater or bursts of volcanic steam are emitted; a blowhole. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > seashore or coast > [noun] > chimney through which sea spouts puffing hole1853 blowhole1858 1853 U.S. Rev. Jan. 13 The entire coast was remarkable for strangely shaped headlands, volcanic and basaltic formations, natural bridges, puffing holes, and all those natural wonders which render some sea-boards so interesting. 1926 Zanesville (Ohio) Signal 24 Oct. At the mouths of the puffing holes, both natural and artificial, the pressure of steam remains always the same. 1998 Holiday UK Apr.–May 75/2 There are many court-tombs in the area, a puffing hole with subterranean channel to the sea, and Dun Briste, a dramatic sea stack. † puffing tube n. Obsolete rare a blowpipe. ΚΠ 1883 F. Day Indian Fish 68 Malabar puffing tube, with darts used for killing fish. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022). puffingadj.n.¹ Brit. /ˈpʌfɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpəfɪŋ/ Forms: see puff v. and -ing suffix²; also Old English pipfendes (genitive, perhaps transmission error). Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: puff v., -ing suffix². Etymology: < puff v. + -ing suffix². 1. That emits or delivers puffs of air, smoke, steam, etc.; (of the wind) blowing in puffs or gusts; (of a person) panting, breathless. Also: characterized or accompanied by puffs of wind, breath, etc. In Old English also as n.: a person who emits puffs of breath, a living person. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > [adjective] > of breath: short > panting puffingOE panting1616 pantling1652 panking1746 hyperpnœic1909 OE Aldhelm Glosses (Digby 146) in A. S. Napier Old Eng. Glosses (1900) 51/1 Reciproco spirantis flatu : edlæsendum piffendes [OE Brussels 1650 pipfendes] blæde. a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Wisd. xvii. 17 Ouþer puffynge [v.r. puffende; a1425 L.V. hissynge; Latin sibilans] wynd or sweete soun of briddis..maden þem failing for drede. 1570 J. Drout Pityfull Hist. Two Louing Italians sig. Avij Now boystrous Boreas hath left off his puffing blastes to blowe. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella (1591) 43 Forst by Nature still to flie, First did with puffing kisse those Lockes display. 1588 R. Greene Pandosto sig. C4 Fortune..thought..after a puffing storme, to bring a pretty calme. 1620 Swetnam Arraign'd (1880) 9 From whence comm'st thou in such a puffing heate? 1668 W. Charleton Onomasticon Zoicon 167 Balæna Physeter..the puffing, or spouting Whale. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 129 One brawny Smith the puffing Bellows plyes. View more context for this quotation 1725 J. Armstrong Imitations Shakespeare in Misc. (1770) I. 150 The bleak puffing winds, that seem to spit Their foam sparse thro' the welkin. 1783 H. Cowley Which is the Man? Prol. sig. A2 No puffing miners have I here in pay, To sap their works, or turn their covert way. 1822 Examiner 16 June 380/2 Her fan, which..he is essaying to pick up by a puffing and perspirable exertion. 1852 Alton (Illinois) Weekly Courier 18 June Her Mills, with their puffing engines, supplying the country round. 1906 U. Sinclair Jungle i. 15 In vain would the puffing and breathless ponas Jokubas insist, in vain would Teta Elzbieta implore. 1948 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Jrnl. 18 July 6/3 The huffing and puffing steam dinkeys..still see service when traffic is heavy. 1989 J. Purdy Garments Living Wear xi. 52 One progresses to puffing old age during which we no longer run up the stairs or leap out of bed on two feet. 2004 Standard (St. Catherines, Ont.) (Nexis) 25 June a6 It's quiet on the roof... Only the puffing wind and the murmurs of a gym class on the grass below. †2. Swollen with vanity, pride, etc.; self-important, pompous; haughty, scornful; = puffed adj. 1. Cf. huffing adj. 2. Obsolete.In quot. 1567: (of language) such as a self-important or pompous person might utter; overblown, bombastic. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > [adjective] > contemptuous > expressing contempt vocally puffing1566 pooh-poohy1876 pooh-poohing1903 the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > blustering or bravado > [adjective] termagant1546 roisterly1555 swashing1556 puffing1566 roisting1567 cocking1568 braving1579 huffling1582 kill-cow1589 roister-doistering1593 roister-doisterly1593 hufty-tufty1596 swaggering1596 huff-cap1597 sword-and-buckler1598 huffing1602 pyrgopolinizing1605 bold-beatinga1616 swash1635 swaga1640 blustering1652 bravashing1652 hectoring1664 hectorly1676 huffy1677 huff-snuff1693 swashbuckling1693 flustering1698 blustery1739 huffish1755 bravading1812 topping1815 Bobadilish1832 Bobadilian1837 fanfaronading1837 bucko1883 swashbucklering1884 swaggery1886 blokeish1920 blokey1938 society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [adjective] > inflated or bombastic fleshyc1369 windya1382 unmeasureda1425 puffing1566 embossed1578 puffed1587 bombasted1589 fustian1592 puffya1594 full-mouthed1594 orificial1594 gouty1595 swelling1597 mouth-filling1598 taffeta1598 bombast1601 tiptoe-strouting1602 turgidous1602 swollen1605 dropsieda1616 exsufflicatea1616 turgent1621 ampullous1622 tympanous1625 high-flown1632 tumorousa1637 blustered1638 tumid1648 bombastical1649 ranting1650 inflated1652 tuftaffetya1658 pompiona1670 bombastic1704 dropsical1721 thundering1725 turgid1725 exsuffolate1744 Lexiphanic1767 hi cockalorum1783 Ossianic1788 mouthing1814 mouthy1827 sophomoric1837 highfalutin1839 sophomorical1847 spread eagle1853 tumescent1882 Herodian1886 Ossianesque1889 Barnumesque1890 1566 T. Stapleton Returne Vntruthes Jewelles Replie i. f. 29^v What is Impudency, what is Puffing Pride,..if this be not? 1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. Bvij He that dothe belch out puffinge rymes [L. Hic, dum sublimis uersus ructatur]. 1583 R. Greene Mamillia i. f. 27 A cooling carde of misfortune to pluck down the puffing peate of prosperitie. 1592 R. Greene Vision sig. B3 The puffing glorie of the loftie stile shadowing wanton conceipts. 1687 T. Brown Cal. Reform'd in Duke of Buckingham et al. Misc. Wks. (1704) 230 Thou huffing, puffing, Sconce-building Ruffian. 1763 H. S. J. Giral del Pino Dict. Spanish & Eng. I Temeron, a bully, a braggadocio, a puffing fellow. 1791 C. Smith Celestina II. x. 226 Captain Thorold, (it was that puffing fellow I was most afraid of,) had not, I believe, the least interest. 1819 W. Scott Legend of Montrose ii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. III. 185 A galling thing it is..to yield preference to every puffing signior. 1838 C. Dickens Sketches Young Gentlemen 60 There is a certain kind of impostor—a bragging, vaunting, puffing young gentleman—against whom we are desirous to warn that fairer part of the creation. †3. Liable to cause a person to swell with pride, arrogance, etc. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia iii. sig. D1 Taught to moderate, Thy mounting thought, nor to be eleuate With puffingst fortunes? 1605 B. Jonson Sejanus ii. sig. D4 Windy praise, And puffing hopes of her aspiring Sonnes. View more context for this quotation 1652 E. Benlowes Theophila xiii. vii. 236 No puffing Hopes, no shrinking Fears Them fright. 4. Swelling, inflating; becoming puffed-up. Also with up. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > protuberance or rounded projection > [adjective] fullOE balghc1340 struttinga1398 bouchy1398 bunching1398 bunchy1398 lumpedc1425 bunched1426 bulged1436 knule?a1513 bolling1519 bossed?1541 bossy1543 swelling1544 poked1577 embossed1578 extuberant1578 protuberant1578 protuberated1578 protuberating1578 protubered1578 bunting1584 bellieda1593 gouty1595 bottled1597 buddy1611 hulch1611 hulched1611 jetty?1611 bottle-like1629 bungy1634 extuberating1634 bosomed1646 puffing1661 protuberous1666 tuberant1668 extuberic1680 swollen1688 bellying1700 swelled1704 humped1713 extuberated1727 bottle-shaped1731 ampullaceous1776 hummocky1791 bulging1812 bulgy1847 ampulliform1870 fullish1871 pouchy1884 bumfled1913 1661 R. Boyle Physico-chym. Ess. Salt-petre in Certain Physiol. Ess. 111 Unlesse it chance that the puffing matter do blow the coal too soon out of the Crucible. 1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xx. 259 The willows are sappy and puffing. 2006 www.huffingtonpost.com 12 Sept. (O.E.D. Archive) From the first kicks in a puffing-up stomach to the first moments after birth, you melt into the other. 5. That praises something or someone extravagantly; engaged in or practising puffery. Also: of the nature of a puff; extravagantly or unduly laudatory. ΚΠ 1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man Epil. 75 As puffing quacks some caitiff wretch procure To swear the pill, or drop, has wrought a cure. 1799 Royal Gaz. (New York) 21 Apr. (advt.) The convenient Portability of a Powder for the ready making of Ink speaks sufficiently for itself and needs no puffing encomiums on its utility to recommend it. 1805 Sporting Mag. 25 187 Without the quackery of puffing advertisements. 1831 Fraser's Mag. 3 113 The..puffing bepraisement of the Court Journal. 1908 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 1 May (advt.) It does not need any puffing praise of exaggerated advertisement. 1963 S. P. Moss Poe's Literary Battles i. 36 Whitman owned to having inserted three puffing reviews of his Leaves of Grass in three periodicals. 2003 Sunday Times (Nexis) 27 Apr. 38 That coterie of mutually puffing evolutionary psychologists..who specialise in placing hyperbolic praise on the book jackets of their friends. Compounds Puffing Billy n. a steam locomotive or steam train; also in extended use.The first steam locomotive to run successfully on rails was built by William Hedley for use at Wylam colliery, Northumberland, in 1813, and was apparently named ‘Puffing Billy’ at or soon after this date (see quot. 1864). ΘΚΠ society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > locomotive > steam locomotive steam locomotive1812 steam-engine1815 steamer1837 Puffing Billy1848 1848 Times 15 Feb. 8/4 I think they called it a locomotive, but the men generally called it a ‘puffing Billy’. 1864 Illustr. London News 15 Oct. 392/1 On the south side of the Museum are a couple of locomotive engines..one is the oldest locomotive engine in existence..the original old ‘Puffing Billy’... Upon one side of it hangs a document dated 1815, from which it appears some great objection had been made by local landowners to the ‘puffing’ propensities of the aforesaid ‘Billy’. 1895 A. Patterson Man & Nature on Broads 61 Them puffin-Billies ha' turned all that over. 1922 H. Van Loon Story of Mankind (1927) 409 At the present time, any well-behaved flivver..can do better than these early ‘Puffing Billies’. 1977 Times 19 Apr. 5/5 (caption) A replica of an early American ‘Puffing Billy’..at the National Railway Museum, York. 2001 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 14 July r30 Take the train this Christmas. Not just any old puffing billy but the trans-Siberian. puffing pig n. chiefly U.S. the common porpoise, Phocoena phocoena; cf. puffer n. 3c, puff-pig n. at puff n. and adj. Compounds 2. 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 1845 J. Coulter Adventures Pacific iii. 28 Shoals of a small kind of porpoise, commonly called puffing pigs. 1884 Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 27. 640 Phocœna brachycion, Cope. Puffing Pig. Herring Hog. Atlantic coast of the United States. 2004 Western Mail (Wales) (Nexis) 10 Apr. 6 Harbour porpoises are sometimes called the puffing pig as the creatures can be heard making puffing noises from the shoreline as they take a breath on the surface. Derivatives ˈpuffingly adv. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > [adverb] > shortness of breath out of breath1565 puffingly1770 1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Tumidamente, swellingly, puffingly. 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Boufément, puffingly. 1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality (Dublin ed.) V. 343 Dobson and his dame coming diffidently but puffingly up the Avenue. 1853 Harper's Monthly Jan. 193/2 ‘How dee do, John?’ commenced the old lady, puffingly. 1905 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 98/2 A fat Turkish apothecary puffingly struggles up our ship's side. 1979 J. Melville Wages of Zen i. 4 He clambered puffingly into his car. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.²a1398adj.n.¹OE
随便看	expulses expulsing expulsion expulsion order expulsionist expulsions expulsitive expulsive expulsive faculty expulsive virtue fact-checked fact-checker fact-checking fact-checks fact-collecting fact-crammed fact-cramming fact-fetishism fact-fetishist fact-filled fact-find fact-finder fact-finding fact-gathering fact-packed

puffingn.2

Compounds

puffingadj.n.1

Compounds

Derivatives

puffingn.²

puffingadj.n.¹