PUFF

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does puff mean? 

• PUFF (noun)
  The noun PUFF has 8 senses:

1. a short light gust of air

2. a light inflated pastry or puff shell

3. exaggerated praise (as for promotional purposes)

4. bedding made of two layers of cloth filled with stuffing and stitched together

5. a soft spherical object made from fluffy fibers; for applying powder to the skin

6. thick cushion used as a seat

7. a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)

8. forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth

  Familiarity information: PUFF used as a noun is common.

• PUFF (adjective)
  The adjective PUFF has 1 sense:

1. gathered for protruding fullness

  Familiarity information: PUFF used as an adjective is very rare.

• PUFF (verb)
  The verb PUFF has 8 senses:

1. smoke and exhale strongly

2. suck in or take (air)

3. breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted

4. make proud or conceited

5. praise extravagantly

6. speak in a blustering or scornful manner

7. to swell or cause to enlarge

8. blow hard and loudly

  Familiarity information: PUFF used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PUFF (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A short light gust of air

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

puff; puff of air; whiff

Hypernyms ("puff" is a kind of...):

blast; blow; gust (a strong current of air)

Derivation:

puffy (blowing in puffs or short intermittent blasts)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A light inflated pastry or puff shell

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("puff" is a kind of...):

pastry (any of various baked foods made of dough or batter)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "puff"):

chou; cream puff (puff filled with cream or custard)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Exaggerated praise (as for promotional purposes)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("puff" is a kind of...):

good word; recommendation; testimonial (something that recommends (or expresses commendation of) a person or thing as worthy or desirable)

Derivation:

puff (praise extravagantly)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Bedding made of two layers of cloth filled with stuffing and stitched together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

comfort; comforter; puff; quilt

Hypernyms ("puff" is a kind of...):

bed clothing; bedclothes; bedding (coverings that are used on a bed)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "puff"):

continental quilt; duvet; eiderdown (a soft quilt usually filled with the down of the eider)

patchwork; patchwork quilt (a quilt made by sewing patches of different materials together)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A soft spherical object made from fluffy fibers; for applying powder to the skin

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

powderpuff; puff

Hypernyms ("puff" is a kind of...):

pad (a flat mass of soft material used for protection, stuffing, or comfort)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Thick cushion used as a seat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

hassock; ottoman; pouf; pouffe; puff

Hypernyms ("puff" is a kind of...):

seat (furniture that is designed for sitting on)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

drag; puff; pull

Context example:

he took a drag on his cigarette and expelled the smoke slowly

Hypernyms ("puff" is a kind of...):

aspiration; breathing in; inhalation; inspiration; intake (the act of inhaling; the drawing in of air (or other gases) as in breathing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "puff"):

toke (a puff of a marijuana or hashish cigarette)

Holonyms ("puff" is a part of...):

smoke; smoking (the act of smoking tobacco or other substances)

Derivation:

puff (smoke and exhale strongly)

puff (suck in or take (air))

Sense 8

Meaning:

Forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

blow; puff

Context example:

he blew out all the candles with a single puff

Hypernyms ("puff" is a kind of...):

breathing out; exhalation; expiration (the act of expelling air from the lungs)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "puff"):

insufflation (an act of blowing or breathing on or into something)

Derivation:

puff (breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted)

puff (blow hard and loudly)

• PUFF (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Gathered for protruding fullness

Synonyms:

puff; puffed

Context example:

puff sleeves

Similar:

fancy (not plain; decorative or ornamented)

• PUFF (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Smoke and exhale strongly

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

puff; whiff

Context example:

whiff a pipe

Hypernyms (to "puff" is one way to...):

smoke (inhale and exhale smoke from cigarettes, cigars, pipes)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

puff (a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke))

puffing (blowing tobacco smoke out into the air)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Suck in or take (air)

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

drag; draw; puff

Context example:

draw on a cigarette

Hypernyms (to "puff" is one way to...):

breathe in; inhale; inspire (draw in (air))

"Puff" entails doing...:

smoke (inhale and exhale smoke from cigarettes, cigars, pipes)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

puff (a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

gasp; heave; pant; puff

Context example:

The runners reached the finish line, panting heavily

Hypernyms (to "puff" is one way to...):

blow (exhale hard)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

puff (forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth)

puffing (an act of forcible exhalation)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make proud or conceited

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

The sudden fame puffed her ego

Hypernyms (to "puff" is one way to...):

elate; intoxicate; lift up; pick up; uplift (fill with high spirits; fill with optimism)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Praise extravagantly

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

puff; puff up

Context example:

The critics puffed up this Broadway production

Hypernyms (to "puff" is one way to...):

praise (express approval of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

puff (exaggerated praise (as for promotional purposes))

Sense 6

Meaning:

Speak in a blustering or scornful manner

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

A puffing kind of man

Hypernyms (to "puff" is one way to...):

blow; bluster; boast; brag; gas; gasconade; shoot a line; swash; tout; vaunt (show off)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 7

Meaning:

To swell or cause to enlarge

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

blow up; puff; puff out; puff up

Context example:

puffed out chests

Hypernyms (to "puff" is one way to...):

intumesce; swell; swell up; tumefy; tumesce (expand abnormally)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

Did his feet puff?

Derivation:

puffer (any of numerous marine fishes whose elongated spiny body can inflate itself with water or air to form a globe; several species contain a potent nerve poison; closely related to spiny puffers)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Blow hard and loudly

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

chuff; huff; puff

Context example:

he huffed and puffed as he made his way up the mountain

Hypernyms (to "puff" is one way to...):

blow (exhale hard)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

puff (forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth)

puffing (an act of forcible exhalation)

 Context examples 

My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The whispers of wind became puffs, the sails filled, the Ghost moved.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I heard a heavy puffing and blowing coming towards us, and soon Mr. Omer, shorter-winded than of yore, but not much older-looking, stood before me.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He swelled and puffed in his anger.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When a sharp puff came it seemed to be like a distant gun.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The team also explored the possibility that these planets weren't actually super-puffs at all.

('Cotton Candy' Planet Mysteries Unravel in New Hubble Observations, NASA)

The name "moyamoya" in Japanese means "puff of smoke" and derives from the characteristic radiographic appearance of the collateral vessels.

(Moyamoya Disease, NCI Thesaurus)

I listened with amazement to this explanation, which Holmes delivered between the puffs of his cigarette.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Once they run out of this fuel, they puff up into red giants, becoming hundreds of times larger and engulfing nearby planets.

(First Giant Planet around White Dwarf Found, ESO)

The Clown put his hands in his pockets, and after puffing out his cheeks and nodding his head at them saucily, he said: (...)

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)