1. [n]  forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth; "he gave his nose a loud blow"; "he blew out all the candles with a single puff"
2. [n]  a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke); "he took a puff on his pipe"; "he took a drag on his cigarette and expelled the smoke slowly"
3. [n]  a fluffy pad for applying powder to the skin
4. [n]  bedding made of two layers of cloth filled with stuffing and stitched together
5. [n]  exaggerated praise (as for promotional purposes)
6. [n]  a light inflated pastry or puff shell
7. [n]  a short light gust of air
8. [adj]  gathered for protruding fullness; "puff sleeves"
9. [v]  breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted; "The runners reached the finish line, panting heavily"
10. [v]  blow hard and loudly
11. [v]  to swell or cause to enlarge, "Her faced puffed up from the drugs"
12. [v]  speak in a blustering or scornful manner; "A puffing kind of man"
13. [v]  praise extravagantly; "The critics puffed up this Broadway production"
14. [v]  smoke and exhale strongly; "puff a cigar"; "whiff a pipe"
15. [v]  suck in or take, as of air; "draw a deep breath"; "draw on a cigarette"
16. [v]  make proud or conceited; "The sudden fame puffed her ego"

1. \Puff\ (p[u^]f), n. [Akin to G. & Sw. puff a blow, Dan.
   puf, D. pof; of imitative origin. Cf. {Buffet}.]
   1. A sudden and single emission of breath from the mouth;
      hence, any sudden or short blast of wind; a slight gust; a
      whiff. `` To every puff of wind a slave.'' --Flatman.
   2. Anything light and filled with air. Specifically:
      (a) A puffball.
      (b) a kind of light pastry.
      (c) A utensil of the toilet for dusting the skin or hair
          with powder.
   3. An exaggerated or empty expression of praise, especially
      one in a public journal.
   {Puff adder}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) Any South African viper belonging to {Clotho} and
          allied genera. They are exceedingly venomous, and have
          the power of greatly distending their bodies when
          irritated. The common puff adder ({Vipera, or Clotho
          arietans}) is the largest species, becoming over four
          feet long. The plumed puff adder ({C. cornuta}) has a
          plumelike appendage over each eye.
      (b) A North American harmless snake ({Heterodon
          platyrrhinos}) which has the power of puffing up its
          body. Called also {hog-nose snake}, {flathead},
          {spreading adder}, and {blowing adder}.
   {Puff bird} (Zo["o]l.), any bird of the genus {Bucco}, or
      family {Bucconid[ae]}. They are small birds, usually with
      dull-colored and loose plumage, and have twelve tail
      feathers. See {Barbet}
      (b) .
   

2. \Puff\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Puffed} (p[u^]ft); p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Puffing}.] [Akin to G. puffen to pop, buffet, puff,
   D. poffen to pop, puffen to blow, Sw. puffa to push, to cuff,
   Dan. puffe to pop, thump. See {Puff}, n.]
   1. To blow in puffs, or with short and sudden whiffs.
   2. To blow, as an expression of scorn; -- with at.
            It is really to defy Heaven to puff at damnation.
                                                  --South.
   3. To breathe quick and hard, or with puffs, as after violent
      exertion.
            The ass comes back again, puffing and blowing, from
            the chase.                            --L' Estrange.
   4. To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated. --Boyle.
   5. To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner;
      hence, to assume importance.
            Then came brave Glory puffing by.     --Herbert.
   

3. \Puff\, v. t.
   1. To drive with a puff, or with puffs.
            The clearing north will puff the clouds away.
                                                  --Dryden.
   2. To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously.
            I puff the prostitute away.           --Dryden.
   3. To cause to swell or dilate; to inflate; to ruffle with
      puffs; -- often with up; as, a bladder puffed with air.
            The sea puffed up with winds.         --Shak.
   4. To inflate with pride, flattery, self-esteem, or the like;
      -- often with up.
            Puffed up with military success.      --Jowett
                                                  (Thucyd. )
   5. To praise with exaggeration; to flatter; to call public
      attention to by praises; to praise unduly. `` Puffed with
      wonderful skill.'' --Macaulay.
   

4. \Puff\, a.
   Puffed up; vain. [R.] --Fanshawe.
   

To decompress data that has been crunched by Huffman coding. At least one widely distributed Huffman decoder program was actually *named* "PUFF", but these days it is usually packaged with the encoder.

Opposite: huff.

[Jargon File]