WHIFF • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Whiff

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/wɪf/ /hwɪf/ Listen

noun

Whiff n.

A sudden expulsion of air from the mouth; a quick puff or slight gust, as of air or smoke. "But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword The unnerved father falls." "The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe, And a scornful laugh laughed he."

A glimpse; a hasty view. (Prov. Eng.)

(Zool.) The marysole, or sail fluke.

verb

Whiff v. t. (past & past part. whiffed; pres. part. whiffing)

To throw out in whiffs; to consume in whiffs; to puff.

To carry or convey by a whiff, or as by a whiff; to puff or blow away. "Old Empedocles,... who, when he leaped into Etna, having a dry, sear body, and light, the smoke took him, and whiffed him up into the moon."

Whiff v. i. To emit whiffs, as of smoke; to puff.

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Etymology of 'Whiff'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Whiff" Quotes from Famous Books

... a mystery that greatly intrigued us. One morning the mystery was solved. A whiff of tobacco from an upper window came along with a puff of wind. It was a heated whiff, in spite of the cooling breeze. It was from a pipe, a short, black pipe, owned by some one in the Mansard window next door. There ...

— In and Out of Three Normady Inns • Anna Bowman Dodd

... Warne, "that merely to catch a whiff now and then of a fragrance which is singularly pleasant to me, but which I am denied producing for myself, would add to the things that give me comfort. If you wouldn't mind smoking in the hall now and then, or, better yet, by my fireside, ...

— Under the Country Sky • Grace S. Richmond

... opened every room on their way back and searched every nook and corner. Not so much as a pipe or a cigarette or a cigar could they find—nor a whiff of smoke neither. Besides, the port windows were locked shut and the steward had the keys! They're takin' no chances in the ...

— Tom Slade on a Transport • Percy Keese Fitzhugh

... forlorn indeed, he aimlessly circled the tent. Suddenly the snow gave way beneath his fore legs and he sank down. Something wriggled under his feet. He sprang back, bristling and snarling, fearful of the unseen and unknown. But a friendly little yelp reassured him, and he went back to investigate. A whiff of warm air ascended to his nostrils, and there, curled up under the snow in a snug ball, lay Billee. He whined placatingly, squirmed and wriggled to show his good will and intentions, and even ...

— The Call of the Wild • Jack London

... insults) of the incorrigible cabmen, from the continuous babel of unmusical voices, and from the reiterated strains of "Santa Lucia" or "Margari" howled from raucous throats or strummed from rickety street-organs. Oh for peace, and rest, and a whiff of pure country air! For there are no walks in or around the City of the Siren, where there is nowhere to stroll save the narrow strip of the much-vaunted Villa (which is either damp or dusty according to weather) or the fatiguing ascent amidst walled gardens and newly built houses to the heights ...

— The Naples Riviera • Herbert M. Vaughan

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