puff

puff¹ [pʌf] v

[: Old English; Origin: pyffan, from the sound]

1.)

to breathe quickly and with difficulty after the effort of running, carrying something heavy etc

▪ George puffed and panted and he tried to keep up.

puff along/up etc

▪ An old man puffed up to them.

▪ He caught up with Gary, puffing for breath .

→huff and puff [i]at ↑huff¹ (1)

2.) [I and T] also puff away

to breathe in and out while smoking a cigarette or ↑pipe

puff at/on

▪ Kinane sat in silence, puffing thoughtfully at his pipe.

3.) [I always + adverb/preposition, T]

if smoke, steam etc puffs from somewhere, or if something puffs it, it comes out in little clouds

▪ Steam puffed out of the chimney.

▪ The boiler was puffing thick black smoke.

▪ Don't puff smoke into my face.

4.) [I always + adverb/preposition]

to move in a particular direction, sending out little clouds of steam or smoke

▪ The train puffed steadily across the bridge.

puff out [puff sth<=>out] phr v

puff out your cheeks/chest

to make your cheeks or chest bigger by filling them with air

▪ Henry puffed out his chest proudly.

puff up phr v

1.) to become bigger by increasing the amount of air inside, or to make something bigger in this way

▪ The pastry will puff up while it bakes.

puff sth<=>up

▪ Birds puff up their feathers to keep warm.

2.) if a part of your body puffs up, it swells painfully because of injury or infection

▪ My eye had puffed up because of a mosquito bite.

puff ²

puff² n

1.)

the action of taking the smoke from a cigarette, ↑pipe etc into your ↑lungs

puff on/at

▪ He laughed and took a puff on his cigar.

2.)

a sudden small movement of wind, air, or smoke

puff of smoke/wind/air/steam etc

▪ The dragon disappeared in a puff of smoke.

3.) cheese/jam/cream etc puff

a piece of light ↑pastry with a soft mixture inside

4.) [U] BrE informal your breath

▪ I was out of puff (=had difficulty breathing) .

5.) also puff piece

a piece of writing or a speech that praises someone too much - used to show disapproval