huff
/hʌf
/verb
1 [no object] Blow out air loudly on account of exertion: he was huffing under a heavy load I was huffing and puffing to keep up with him...
- I could hear Milly huffing and puffing with the exertion of it.
- He was wearing his work uniform, his hair flying in his face as he skidded to a stop before them, huffing and puffing from the exertion.
- By the time Mr. Mineo had everything under control, he was huffing and puffing with the exertion.
2Express one’s feeling of petty annoyance: [with direct speech]: ‘Huh!’ Nanny huffed...
- She huffs in annoyance and I can't help but feel a bit satisfied at having irritated her.
- Pursing her lips in annoyance again, she huffed.
- Cat huffed in annoyance, but continued to drag him along behind the maître de, who was unwittingly leading them both in the jaws of death.
3 [with object] North American informal Sniff fumes from (petrol or solvents) for a euphoric effect: it is important to educate young people about the dangers of huffing inhalants...
- You might as well be huffing paint thinner or sniffing glue.
- In this case the dad chose to huff gasoline in the basement.
- Jose did a search on Google for this, and found on a website that it was possible to huff spray paint and get high.
4 [with object] (In draughts) remove (an opponent’s piece that could have made a capture) from the board as a forfeit.The detection of an opportunity to huff is not essential, but you may want to consider how it could be done....
- if a player noticed that the opponent had failed to capture when the option was open, the player can huff the offending piece before the next move is made and it is removed from the board.
From the former practice of blowing on the piece
noun [usually in singular]
A fit of petty annoyance: she walked off in a huff...
- Megan entered the Literature room in a huff, her temper flared and her eyes revealing her state of mind.
- In a huff of elegant but direct fury, Lorraine shot me another of her icy glares - one that so clearly conveyed Death - and stormed back into the house.
- I'd like to ask Mr. Napper for his rationale in this behavior but somehow I think he wouldn't be able to explain it and would probably stomp off in a huff when asked.
Synonyms
bad mood, sulk, fit of bad humour, fit of pique, pet, temper, tantrum, rage, fury, passion
informal grump, snit
British informal strop, paddy
North American informal blowout, hissy fit
British informal, dated bate, wax
archaic paddywhack, miff
Derivatives
huffer
- As the parliamentary opposition falls apart, the extra-parliamentary one is being closed down with hardly a rumble of protest from the huffers and puffers who insist that civil liberties are Britain's gift to the world.
- We were outside because we're nicotine huffers.
- The big huffers and woofers come and go and the tidal changes they promise don't quite happen.
huffish
/ adjective ...- It seemed to suggest a state of mind when the voice is gruffish, the manner roughish, and the temper huffish.
- He not only refuses to give money, her does so in an unnecessarily huffish way!
Origin
Late 16th century: imitative of the sound of blowing.
Rhymes
- parallel
- parallelable
- parallel action
- parallelarity
- parallel bars
- parallel cousin
- parallel development
- parallel distributed processing
- parallel economy
- parallelepiped
- parallelepipedal
- parallelepipedon
- parallel evolution
- parallel forces
- parallel importer
- parallel importing
- parallel imports
- parallelinerved
- parallel interface
- parallelipipedal
- parallelise
- parallelism
- parallelist
- parallelistic
- parallelity