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whiff

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
whiff  (hwf, wf)
n.
1. A slight, gentle gust of air; a waft: a whiff of cool air.
2.
a. A brief, passing odor carried in the air: a whiff of perfume.
b. A minute trace: "Humanity is unregenerable and hates the language of conformity, since conformity has a whiff of the inhuman about it" Anthony Burgess.
3. An inhalation, as of air or smoke: Take a whiff of this pipe.
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 blow or convey in whiffs.
2. To inhale through the nose; sniff: a dog whiffing the air.
3. Baseball To strike out (a batter).

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

whiffer n.

whiff
Noun
1. a passing odour: I got a whiff of her perfume
2. a trace or hint: the first whiff of jealousy [imitative]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.whiffwhiff - a short light gust 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
Verb1.whiff - perceive by inhaling through the nose; "sniff the perfume"
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"
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)
noun 2. Brit. (slang) stink, stench, reek, pong Brit. (informal) niff Brit. (slang) malodour, hum (slang)
verb 5. Brit. (slang) stink, stench, reek, pong Brit. (informal) niff Brit. (slang) hum (slang)
Translations
Spanish whiff [wɪf] nbocanada;
to catch a whiff of sth → oler algo

French whiff [wɪf] nbouffée f;
to catch a whiff of sth → sentir l'odeur de qch

German whiff [wɪf] n [of perfume] → Hauch m [of petrol, smoke] → Geruch m;
to catch a whiff of sth → den Geruch von etw wahrnehmen

Italian whiff [wɪf] nodore m;
to catch a whiff of sth → sentire l'odore di qc

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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Forthwith, however, as soon as the order was given, there was an intense red glow out of the bowl of the pipe, and a whiff of smoke came from Mother Rigby's lips.
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.
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.
 
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