whiff

Meanings

1. A brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air; a waft.
2. A short inhalation or exhalation of breath, especially when accompanied by smoke from a cigarette or pipe.
3. A cigarette or small cigar.
4. An odour (usually unpleasant) carried briefly through the air.
5. A small quantity of cloud, smoke, vapour, etc.; specifically (obsolete), chiefly in take the whiff: a puff of tobacco smoke.
6. A flag used as a signal.
7. 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).
8. A slight sign of something; a burst, a glimpse, a hint.
9. A slight attack or touch.
10. A characteristic quality of something; a flavour, a savour, a taste.
11. A sound like that of air passing through a small opening; a short or soft whistle.
12. A failure to hit a ball in various sports (for example, golf); a miss.

1. To carry or convey (something) by, or as by, a whiff or puff of air; to blow, puff, or waft away.
2. To say (something) with an exhalation of breath.
3. To inhale or exhale (smoke from tobacco, etc.) from a cigarette, pipe, or other smoking implement; to smoke (a cigarette, pipe, etc.); to puff.
4. To breathe in or sniff (an odour); to smell.
5. To shoot (someone) with a firearm; hence, to assassinate or kill (someone).
6. Of a pitcher: to strike out (a batter); to fan.
7. To consume (an alcoholic beverage).
8. To move in a way that causes a light gust of air, or a whistling sound.
9. To be carried, or move as if carried, by a puff of air; to waft.
10. To smoke a cigarette, pipe, or other smoking implement.
11. To smell; to sniff.
12. To give off or have an unpleasant smell; to stink.

1. Having a strong or unpleasant odour.

1. Used to indicate a sound like that of air passing through a small opening, that is, a short or soft whistle.

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”).

Translations