whiff
/wɪf/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.22 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A short inhalation or exhalation of breath, especially when accompanied by smoke from a cigarette or pipe.
noun
A short inhalation or exhalation of breath, especially when accompanied by smoke from a cigarette or pipe.
Archaic
noun
A small quantity of cloud, smoke, vapour, etc.; specifically (obsolete), chiefly in take the whiff: a puff of tobacco smoke.
noun
Any of a number of flatfish such as (dated) the lemon sole (Microstomus kitt) and now, especially, the megrim (Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis) and (with a descriptive word) a species of large-tooth flounder or sand flounder (family Paralichthyidae).
Example Sentences
- "Purrus at Pryam driues, but all in rage, / Strikes vvide, but vvith the vvhiffe and vvinde / Of his fell ſvvord, th'unnerued father falles."
- "Now as the VVinde, buffing vpon a Hill / VVith roaring breath againſt a ready Mill, / VVhirls vvith a vvhiff the ſails of ſvvelling clout, / The ſails doo ſvving the vvinged ſhaft about."
- "Their Enſignes ſhine, and Dragons fell that therein pictur'd ſhow, / VVave to and fro vvith vvhiffes of vvind, as it doth gently blovv."
- ""Give her a whiff of fresh air with the bellows, Charley," said Mr. Dawkins; "and you slap her hands, Fagin, while Bill undoes the petticoats.""
- "Sog[liardo]. […] [D]oe you profeſſe theſe ſleights in Tabacco? / […] / Shift. Yes as ſoone ſir; he ſhall receiue the 1, 2, and 3 VVhiffe, if it pleaſe him, & (vpon the receit) take his horſe, drinke his three cups of Canarie, and expoſe one at Hounſlovv, a ſecond at Stanes, and a third at Bagſhot."
- "I was yesterday in a coffee-house not far from the Royal Exchange, where I observed three persons in close conference over a pipe of tobacco; upon which, having filled one for my own use, I lighted it at the little wax candle that stood before them: and, after having thrown in two or three whiffs amongst them, sat down and made one of the company."
Etymology
The noun is possibly: * partly a variant of Middle English wef, weffe (“bad smell, stench, stink; exhalation; vapour; tendency of something to go bad (?)”) [and other forms], possibly a variant of either: ** waf, waif, waife (“odour, scent”), possibly from waven (“to move to and fro, sway, wave; to stray, wander; to move in a weaving manner; (figuratively) to hesitate, vacillate”), from Old English wafian (“to wave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”); or ** wef (“a blow, stroke”), from weven (“to travel, wander; to move to and fro, flutter, waver; to blow something away, waft; to cause something to move; to fall; to cut deeply; to sever; to give up, yield; to give deference to; to avoid; to afflict, trouble; to beckon, signal”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Old English wefan (“to weave”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”)), or from wǣfan (see bewǣfan, ymbwǣfan); and * partly onomatopoeic. Noun sense 6 (“name of a number of flatfish”) is possibly derived from sense 1 (“brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air”), sense 4 (“small quantity of cloud, smoke, vapour, etc.”), and other such senses. The verb and adjective are derived from the noun. Verb sense 2.6 (“to catch fish by dragging a handline near the surface of the water from a moving boat”) is possibly derived from sense 1.1 (“to carry or convey (something) by, or as by, a whiff or puff of air”), sense 2.2 (“to be carried, or move as if carried, by a puff of air”), and other such senses. The interjection is derived from noun sense 7.4 (“a sound like that of air passing through a small opening; a short or soft whistle”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /wɪf/
- British English: /wɪf/
Usage
Inflected Forms
whiffs (plural)
whiffs (present, singular)
whiffing (participle, present)
whiffed (participle, past)
whiffed (past)
more whiff (comparative)
most whiff (superlative)