whiff

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Related to whiff: whiff test, WIFF

whiff

(wĭf, hwĭf)

a. A brief, passing odor carried in the air: a whiff of perfume.

b. A very small trace: a whiff of self-pity in her remarks.

2. An inhalation, as of air or smoke: Take a whiff of this pipe.

3. A slight, gentle gust of air; a waft: A whiff of cool air blew into the room.

4. Baseball A strikeout.

v. whiffed, whiff·ing, whiffs

v.intr.

1. To be carried in brief gusts; waft: puffs of smoke whiffing from the chimney.

2. Sports To swing at and miss a ball or puck.

3. Baseball To strike out. Used of a batter.

v.tr.

1. To inhale through the nose; sniff: a dog whiffing the air.

2. Baseball To strike out (a batter).

[Perhaps alteration of Middle English weffe, offensive smell.]

whiff′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

whiff

(wɪf)

1. a passing odour

2. a brief gentle gust of air

3. (Physiology) a single inhalation or exhalation from the mouth or nose

4. to come, convey, or go in whiffs; puff or waft

5. (Physiology) to take in or breathe out (tobacco smoke, air, etc)

6. (Physiology) (tr) to sniff or smell

7. (intr) slang Brit to have an unpleasant smell; stink

[C16: of imitative origin]

ˈwhiffer n

whiff

(wɪf)

(Nautical Terms) chiefly Brit a narrow clinker-built skiff having outriggers, for one oarsman

[C19: special use of whiff¹]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

whiff

(ʰwɪf, wɪf)

n.

1. a slight gust or puff of wind, air, vapor, smoke, or the like.

2. a slight trace of odor or smell: a whiff of onions.

3. a single inhalation or exhalation of air, tobacco smoke, etc.

4. a trace or hint: a whiff of scandal.

v.i.

5. to blow or come in whiffs or puffs, as wind or smoke.

6. to inhale or exhale whiffs, as in smoking tobacco.

7. Baseball. fan1 (def. 15).

v.t.

8. to blow or drive with a whiff or puff, as the wind does.

9. to inhale or exhale (air, tobacco smoke, etc.) in whiffs.

10. to smoke (a pipe, cigar, etc.).

11. Baseball. fan1 (def. 11).

[1585–95; of expressive orig.; compare Middle English weffe whiff of steam]

whiff′er, n.

whiff

Past participle: whiffed
Gerund: whiffing

Imperative
whiff
whiff

Present
I whiff
you whiff
he/she/it whiffs
we whiff
you whiff
they whiff

Preterite
I whiffed
you whiffed
he/she/it whiffed
we whiffed
you whiffed
they whiffed

Present Continuous
I am whiffing
you are whiffing
he/she/it is whiffing
we are whiffing
you are whiffing
they are whiffing

Present Perfect
I have whiffed
you have whiffed
he/she/it has whiffed
we have whiffed
you have whiffed
they have whiffed

Past Continuous
I was whiffing
you were whiffing
he/she/it was whiffing
we were whiffing
you were whiffing
they were whiffing

Past Perfect
I had whiffed
you had whiffed
he/she/it had whiffed
we had whiffed
you had whiffed
they had whiffed

Future
I will whiff
you will whiff
he/she/it will whiff
we will whiff
you will whiff
they will whiff

Future Perfect
I will have whiffed
you will have whiffed
he/she/it will have whiffed
we will have whiffed
you will have whiffed
they will have whiffed

Future Continuous
I will be whiffing
you will be whiffing
he/she/it will be whiffing
we will be whiffing
you will be whiffing
they will be whiffing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been whiffing
you have been whiffing
he/she/it has been whiffing
we have been whiffing
you have been whiffing
they have been whiffing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been whiffing
you will have been whiffing
he/she/it will have been whiffing
we will have been whiffing
you will have been whiffing
they will have been whiffing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been whiffing
you had been whiffing
he/she/it had been whiffing
we had been whiffing
you had been whiffing
they had been whiffing

Conditional
I would whiff
you would whiff
he/she/it would whiff
we would whiff
you would whiff
they would whiff

Past Conditional
I would have whiffed
you would have whiffed
he/she/it would have whiffed
we would have whiffed
you would have whiffed
they would have whiffed

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	whiff - a short light gust of air puff, puff of air gust, blast, blow - a strong current of air; "the tree was bent almost double by the gust"
	2.	whiff - a lefteye flounder found in coastal waters from New England to Brazil lefteye flounder, lefteyed flounder - flatfishes with both eyes on the left side of the head Citharichthys, genus Citharichthys - a genus of Bothidae Citharichthys cornutus, horned whiff - a whiff found in waters from the Bahamas and northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil
	3.	whiff - a strikeout resulting from the batter swinging at and missing the ball for the third strike strikeout - an out resulting from the batter getting three strikes
Verb	1.	whiff - perceive by inhaling through the nose; "sniff the perfume" sniff smell - inhale the odor of; perceive by the olfactory sense
	2.	whiff - drive or carry as if by a puff of air; "The gust of air whiffed away the clouds" blow - cause to move by means of an air current; "The wind blew the leaves around in the yard"
	3.	whiff - strike out by swinging and missing the pitch charged as the third baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!" strike out - put out or be put out by a strikeout; "Oral struck out three batters to close the inning"
	4.	whiff - smoke and exhale strongly; "puff a cigar"; "whiff a pipe" puff smoke - inhale and exhale smoke from cigarettes, cigars, pipes; "We never smoked marijuana"; "Do you smoke?"
	5.	whiff - utter with a puff of air; "whiff out a prayer" mouth, speak, talk, verbalise, verbalize, utter - express in speech; "She talks a lot of nonsense"; "This depressed patient does not verbalize"

whiff

noun

1. smell, hint, scent, sniff, aroma, odour, draught, niff (Brit. slang) He caught a whiff of her perfume.

verb

1. (Brit. slang) stink, stench, reek, pong (Brit. informal), niff (Brit. slang), malodour, hum (slang) the nauseating whiff of rotting flesh

2. trace, suggestion, hint, suspicion, bit, drop, note, breath, whisper, shred, crumb, tinge, jot, smidgen (informal), soupçon Not a whiff of scandal has ever tainted his private life.

3. puff, breath, flurry, waft, rush, blast, draught, gust At the first whiff of smoke, the alarm will go off.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

whiff

noun

A slight amount or indication:

breath, dash, ghost, hair, hint, intimation, semblance, shade, shadow, soupçon, streak, suggestion, suspicion, taste, tinge, touch, trace, whisper.

Informal: whisker.

verb

To perceive with the olfactory sense:

nose, scent, smell, sniff, snuff.

Idiom: catch a whiff of.

Translations

نَسْمَة هواء، نَفْحَه

pust

Hauch

hálito

bouffée cigarette odeur souffle

fuvallat

púst, blástur, smágustur, dauf lykt

leggero odore soffiare soffio

dūmelis

dvesmapūsma

hafif esinti/koku

一阵气味

whiff

[wɪf]

A. N

1. (= smell) → olorcito m; (= nasty) → tufillo
a faint whiff of mothballs → un leve olorcito a bolas de naftalina
to catch a whiff of sth → oler algo
a whiff of grapeshot → un poco de metralla
what a whiff! → ¡qué tufo!

2. (= sniff, mouthful) to go out for a whiff of air → salir a tomar el fresco
not a whiff of wind → ni el menor soplo de viento

3. (fig) [of scandal, corruption] → indicio m

B. VI → oler (mal)
to whiff of → oler a; (= stink of) → apestar a

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

whiff

[ˈ^hwɪf] n → bouffée f
to catch a whiff of sth → sentir l'odeur de qch

whiff

(= puff) → Zug m; (= wisp) → kleine Fahne, Wolke f; (= smell) → Hauch m; (pleasant) → Duft m, → Hauch m; (fig: = trace) → Spur f; (of spring) → Hauch m, → Ahnung f; to catch a whiff of something → den Geruch von etw wahrnehmen

(= small cigar) → kleiner Zigarillo

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

whiff

[wɪf] n (of gas, sth unpleasant) → zaffata; (of sea air, perfume) → odore m
to catch a whiff of sth → sentire l'odore di qc
a few whiffs of this could knock you out → se annusi un po' di questo svieni

whiff

(wif) noun

a sudden puff (of air, smoke, smell etc). a whiff of petrol; a whiff of cigar smoke.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Indeed, the great difficulty will be at once got over, if we can only bring ourselves to believe that, as soon as the old dame bade him puff, there came a whiff of smoke from the scarecrow's mouth.

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The islanders, who only smoke a whiff or two at a time, and at long intervals, and who keep their pipes going from hand to hand continually, regarded my systematic smoking of four or five pipefuls of tobacco in succession, as something quite wonderful.

View in context

The pipe was passed from mouth to mouth, each one taking a whiff, which is equivalent to the inviolable pledge of faith, of taking salt together among the ancient Britons.

View in context

The HISPANIOLA rolled steadily, dipping her bowsprit now and then with a whiff of spray.

View in context

Now there was left with him, at least, a philosophic acquiescence to the existing order--only a desire to be permitted to exist, with now and then a little whiff of genuine life, such as he was breathing now.

View in context

A whiff of warm breath, a little soft tuft on its paw--: and immediately wert thou ready to love and lure it.

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When I had inhaled this air freely, I sought the conduit pipe, which conveyed to us the beneficial whiff, and I was not long in finding it.

View in context

As when a window is opened a whiff of fresh air from the fields enters a stuffy room, so a whiff of youthfulness, energy, and confidence of success reached Kutuzov's cheerless staff with the galloping advent of all these brilliant young men.

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And now they begin to see, and the early life of the country- side comes out--a market cart or two; men in smock-frocks going to their work, pipe in mouth, a whiff of which is no bad smell this bright morning.

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"Why, Tess," he answered, after another whiff or two, "it isn't a brave bouncing girl like you who asks that?

View in context

But no crying, or talking, or hoping, or fearing, could keep off the dreaded Saturday afternoon, or Newman Noggs either; who, punctual to his time, limped up to the door, and breathed a whiff of cordial gin through the keyhole, exactly as such of the church clocks in the neighbourhood as agreed among themselves about the time, struck five.

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I'd be the better for a smack of the salt water again, and a whiff of the breeze.

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