puff.
A sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth.
Meaning & usage
A sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth.
The ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself.
out of puff
A small quantity of gas or smoke in the air.
puff of smoke
A sudden but small gust of wind, smoke, etc.
An act of inhaling smoke from a cigarette, cigar or pipe.
The drug cannabis.
A flamboyant or alluring statement of praise.
A portion of fabric gathered up so as to be left full in the middle.
a sleeve with a puff at the shoulder
A light cake filled with cream, cream cheese, etc.
cream puff
A puffball.
A powder puff.
A puffer, one who is employed by the owner or seller of goods sold at auction to bid up the price.
A scam of that kind.
A region of a chromosome exhibiting a local increase in diameter.
Life.
Synonym of poof: a gay man; especially one who is effeminate.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English puff, puf, from Old English pyf (“a blast of wind, puff”), from Proto-West Germanic *puf(f)- (“to blow, puff”), of imitative origin. Cognate with Dutch puf (“puff, wind, fart”), Middle Low German puf, pof (“puff”).
To emit smoke, gas, etc., in puffs.
To pant.
To advertise.
To blow as an expression of scorn.
To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated.
To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner; hence, to assume importance.
To drive with a puff, or with puffs.
To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously.
To cause to swell or dilate; to inflate.
a bladder puffed with air
To inflate with pride, flattery, self-esteem, etc.; often with up.
To praise with exaggeration; to flatter; to call public attention to by praises; to praise unduly.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English puffen, from Old English pyffan (“to breathe out, blow with the mouth”). Compare Dutch puffen, German Low German puffen, German puffen, Danish puffe, Swedish puffa.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.