bepuffv.
/bɪˈpʌf/ transitive.
a. To puff or blow out, to swell.
ΚΠ
1843 [see sense b].
b. figurative. To puff up, praise greatly.
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
1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present iii. vii. 392 Doggeries never so diplomaed, bepuffed, gas-lighted.
1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 5 May 89/1 Even the Lord Mayor..—not a Fiction conventionally be-puffed on one day in the year by illustrious friends.
Derivatives
beˈpuffed adj.
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
a1849 Poe Wks. (1864) IV. 303 Altering my countenance..from its bepuffed and distorted appearance.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1887; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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v.1843