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PUFF
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth
Example:
he blew out all the candles with a single puff
Synonyms:
blow; puff
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
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)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)
Example:
he took a drag on his cigarette and expelled the smoke slowly
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
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 3
Meaning:
Thick cushion used as a seat
Synonyms:
hassock; ottoman; pouf; pouffe; puff
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("puff" is a kind of...):
seat (furniture that is designed for sitting on)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A soft spherical object made from fluffy fibers; for applying powder to the skin
Synonyms:
powderpuff; puff
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("puff" is a kind of...):
pad (a flat mass of soft material used for protection, stuffing, or comfort)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Bedding made of two layers of cloth filled with stuffing and stitched together
Synonyms:
comfort; comforter; puff; quilt
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
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 6
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 7
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 8
Meaning:
A short light gust of air
Synonyms:
puff; puff of air; whiff
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural phenomena
Hypernyms ("puff" is a kind of...):
blast; blow; gust (a strong current of air)
Derivation:
puffy (blowing in puffs or short intermittent blasts)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Gathered for protruding fullness
Example:
puff sleeves
Synonyms:
puff; puffed
Classified under:
Similar:
fancy (not plain; decorative or ornamented)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they puff ... he / she / it puffs
Past simple: puffed
Past participle: puffed
-ing form: puffing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
Example:
The runners reached the finish line, panting heavily
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
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 2
Meaning:
Blow hard and loudly
Example:
he huffed and puffed as he made his way up the mountain
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
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 3
Meaning:
To swell or cause to enlarge
Example:
puffed out chests
Synonyms:
blow up; puff; puff out; puff up
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
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 4
Meaning:
Speak in a blustering or scornful manner
Example:
A puffing kind of man
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
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 5
Meaning:
Praise extravagantly
Example:
The critics puffed up this Broadway production
Synonyms:
puff; puff up
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
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:
Smoke and exhale strongly
Example:
whiff a pipe
Synonyms:
puff; whiff
Classified under:
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 7
Meaning:
Suck in or take (air)
Example:
draw on a cigarette
Synonyms:
drag; draw; puff
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
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 8
Meaning:
Make proud or conceited
Example:
The sudden fame puffed her ego
Classified under:
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
Context examples:
The scientists applied various stimuli to the hairy skin of mice cheeks, including gentle mechanical stimuli (air puff, stroking, and brushing), high-threshold mechanical stimuli (hair pulling and skin pinching), and temperature stimulation.
(Study uncovers specialized mouse neurons that play a unique role in pain, National Institutes of Health)
So, the thin haze of infalling material puffs up like a donut rather than flattening out in a pancake-shaped disk.
(Hubble Uncovers Black Hole Disk that Shouldn't Exist, NASA)
He turned and stared at Martin, and Martin, staring back, noted the puffed and discolored face, handsome and weak, and knew that he had been making a night of it.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
He runs after us, a puffing, red-faced, irascible figure.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Jo's eyes sparkled, for it is always pleasant to be believed in, and a friend's praise is always sweeter than a dozen newspaper puffs.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
The bay mares seemed to know what that white puff in front of us signified, and they stretched themselves like greyhounds.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The Sausage’s piercing trajectory meant that the Milky Way’s disk was probably puffed up or even fractured following the impact, and the Milky Way had to re-grow a new disk.
(The Gaia Sausage: the major collision that changed the Milky Way, University of Cambridge)
Don’t heat up a relationship too fast because it is likely to puff up and then puff out just as quickly.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
Nay, said the little knight, it would be scarce fitting that a cavalier should throw off his harness for the fear of every puff of wind and puddle of water.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the inside pocket of his greatcoat.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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