Result from Foreign Dictionaries (9 entries found)

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Puff \Puff\, n. [Akin to G. & Sw. puff a blow, Dan. puf, D. pof; of imitative origin. Cf. {Buffet}.] 1. A sudden and single emission of breath from the mouth; hence, any sudden or short blast of wind; a slight gust; a whiff. " To every puff of wind a slave." --Flatman. [1913 Webster] 2. Anything light and filled with air. Specifically: (a) A puffball. (b) kind of light pastry. (c) A utensil of the toilet for dusting the skin or hair with powder. [1913 Webster] 3. An exaggerated or empty expression of praise, especially one in a public journal. [1913 Webster] {Puff adder}. (Zool.) (a) Any South African viper belonging to {Clotho} and allied genera. They are exceedingly venomous, and have the power of greatly distending their bodies when irritated. The common puff adder ({Vipera arietans}, or {Clotho arietans}) is the largest species, becoming over four feet long. The plumed puff adder ({Clotho cornuta}) has a plumelike appendage over each eye. (b) A North American harmless snake ({Heterodon platyrrhinos}) which has the power of puffing up its body. Called also {hog-nose snake}, {flathead}, {spreading adder}, and {blowing adder}. {Puff bird} (Zool.), any bird of the genus {Bucco}, or family {Bucconid[ae]}. They are small birds, usually with dull-colored and loose plumage, and have twelve tail feathers. See {Barbet} (b) . [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Puff \Puff\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Puffed} (p[u^]ft); p. pr. & vb. n. {Puffing}.] [Akin to G. puffen to pop, buffet, puff, D. poffen to pop, puffen to blow, Sw. puffa to push, to cuff, Dan. puffe to pop, thump. See {Puff}, n.] 1. To blow in puffs, or with short and sudden whiffs. [1913 Webster] 2. To blow, as an expression of scorn; -- with at. [1913 Webster] It is really to defy Heaven to puff at damnation. --South. [1913 Webster] 3. To breathe quick and hard, or with puffs, as after violent exertion. [1913 Webster] The ass comes back again, puffing and blowing, from the chase. --L' Estrange. [1913 Webster] 4. To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated. --Boyle. [1913 Webster] 5. To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner; hence, to assume importance. [1913 Webster] Then came brave Glory puffing by. --Herbert. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Puff \Puff\, v. t. 1. To drive with a puff, or with puffs. [1913 Webster] The clearing north will puff the clouds away. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 2. To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously. [1913 Webster] I puff the prostitute away. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 3. To cause to swell or dilate; to inflate; to ruffle with puffs; -- often with up; as, a bladder puffed with air. [1913 Webster] The sea puffed up with winds. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 4. To inflate with pride, flattery, self-esteem, or the like; -- often with up. [1913 Webster] Puffed up with military success. --Jowett (Thucyd. ) [1913 Webster] 5. To praise with exaggeration; to flatter; to call public attention to by praises; to praise unduly. " Puffed with wonderful skill." --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Puff \Puff\, a. Puffed up; vain. [R.] --Fanshawe. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Puffball \Puff"ball`\, n. (Bot.) A kind of ball-shaped fungus ({Lycoperdon giganteum}, and other species of the same genus) full of dustlike spores when ripe; -- called also {bullfist}, {bullfice}, {puckfist}, {puff}, and {puffin}. [1913 Webster] From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: puff adj 1: gathered for protruding fullness; "puff sleeves" [syn: {puff}, {puffed}] n 1: a short light gust of air [syn: {puff}, {puff of air}, {whiff}] 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 [syn: {quilt}, {comforter}, {comfort}, {puff}] 5: a soft spherical object made from fluffy fibers; for applying powder to the skin [syn: {powderpuff}, {puff}] 6: thick cushion used as a seat [syn: {ottoman}, {pouf}, {pouffe}, {puff}, {hassock}] 7: a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke); "he took a puff on his pipe"; "he took a drag on his cigarette and expelled the smoke slowly" [syn: {puff}, {drag}, {pull}] 8: forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth; "he gave his nose a loud blow"; "he blew out all the candles with a single puff" [syn: {blow}, {puff}] v 1: smoke and exhale strongly; "puff a cigar"; "whiff a pipe" [syn: {puff}, {whiff}] 2: suck in or take (air); "draw a deep breath"; "draw on a cigarette" [syn: {puff}, {drag}, {draw}] 3: breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted; "The runners reached the finish line, panting heavily" [syn: {pant}, {puff}, {gasp}, {heave}] 4: make proud or conceited; "The sudden fame puffed her ego" 5: praise extravagantly; "The critics puffed up this Broadway production" [syn: {puff}, {puff up}] 6: speak in a blustering or scornful manner; "A puffing kind of man" 7: to swell or cause to enlarge, "Her faced puffed up from the drugs"; "puffed out chests" [syn: {puff}, {puff up}, {blow up}, {puff out}] 8: blow hard and loudly; "he huffed and puffed as he made his way up the mountain" [syn: {puff}, {huff}, {chuff}] From The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003) [jargon]: puff vt. To decompress data that has been crunched by Huffman coding. At least one widely distributed Huffman decoder program was actually named ?PUFF?, but these days it is usually packaged with the encoder. Oppose {huff}, see {inflate}. From Swedish-English FreeDict Dictionary ver. 0.1.1 [fd-swe-eng]: puff push From German-English FreeDict Dictionary ver. 0.3.3 [fd-deu-eng]: Puff /puf/ buffet; toke