Meaning of Whiff | Babel Free

Definitions

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.
   archaic, broadly
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.
   figuratively
9. A slight attack or touch.
   figuratively
10. A characteristic quality of something; a flavour, a savour, a taste.
    figuratively
11. A sound like that of air passing through a small opening; a short or soft whistle.
    figuratively
12. A failure to hit a ball in various sports (for example, golf); a miss.
    US, figuratively, slang
13. From the batter's perspective: a strike.
    US, figuratively, slang
14. An expulsion of explosive or shot.
    archaic
15. An outrigged boat for one person propelled by oar.
16. A sip of an alcoholic beverage.
    obsolete

Equivalents

Examples

“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.”

“Four pipes after dinner he conſtantly ſmokes; / And ſeaſons his whifs with impertinent jokes.”

“Gaffar Andrevvs teſtified no remarkable Emotion, he bleſſed and kiſſed her, but complained bitterly, that he vvanted his Pipe, not having had a VVhiff that Morning.”

“The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe, / And a scornful laugh laughed he.”

“Mr. Willet looked first at her, then at his son, then back again at Dolly, and then made an ineffectual effort to extract a whiff from his pipe, which had gone out long ago.”

“Silver took a whiff or two of his pipe with great composure, and then ran on again.”

“"I call that a dirty-looking pipe," he added, blowing a contemptuous whiff in the direction of Limpet's pipe.”

“And then, ſo nice, and ſo genteel; / Such Cleanlineſs from Head to Heel: / No Humours groſs, or frowzy Steams, / No noiſom Whiffs, or ſweaty Streams, / Before, behind, above, below, / Could from her taintleſs Body flow.”

“The fortune of ſuch men was a temptation too great to be reſiſted by one, to whom, a ſingle whiff of incenſe withheld gave much greater pain, than he received delight, in the clouds of it, which daily roſe about him from the prodigal ſuperſtition of innumerable admirers.”

“[E]v'ry twentieth pace / Conducts the unguarded noſe to ſuch a whiff / Of ſtale debauch forth-iſſuing from the ſtyes / That law has licenſed, as makes temp'rance reel.”

“When the major rose from his rocking-chair before the stove and so disturbed the hot air and balmy whiff of soup which fanned their brows, the odour of stale tobacco became so decidedly prevalent as to leave no doubt of its proceeding mainly from that gentleman's attire.”

“But the butterflies were dead. A whiff of rotten eggs had vanquished the pale clouded yellows which came pelting across the orchard and up Dods Hill and away on to the moor, now lost behind a furze bush, then off again helter-skelter in a broiling sun”

“Shift. […] His cheef exerciſes are taking the VVhiffe, ſquiring a Cocatrice, and making priuie ſearches for Imparters.”

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

“When the Indiaman was within a mile, the stranger threw out neutral colours, and hoisted a whiff, half-mast down, as a signal that she was in distress.”

“[I]t reflects to the diſrepute of our Miniſters […] that after all this light of the Goſpel vvhich is, and is to be, and all this continuall preaching, they ſhould be ſtill frequented vvith ſuch an unprincipl'd, unedify'd, and laick rabble, as that the vvhiffe of every nevv pamphlet ſhould ſtagger them out of thir catechiſm, and Chriſtian vvalking.”

“[N]othing can be more unhappy, more diſhonourable, more unſafe for all, then vvhen a vviſe, grave, and honourable Parlament ſhall have labourd, debated, argu'd, conſulted, and, as he himſelfe ſpeaks, contributed for the public good all their Counſels in common, to be then fruſtrated, diſapoiunted, deny'd and repuls'd by the ſingle vvhiffe of a negative, from the mouth of one vvillfull man; […]”

“[A] vvhiff of military pride had puff'd out his ſhirt at the vvriſt; and upon that in a black leather thong clipp'd into a taſſel beyond the knot, hung the Corporal's ſtick— […]”

“They had their little differences, too; / Their jealous whiffs, which never any change meant: […]”

“But there seemed to be not a whiff of life left in either of the unfortunates.”

“This little whiff of temper seemed to cool Silver down. He had been growing nettled before, but now he pulled himself together.”

“This was a rare whiff of the big-time for a club whose staple diet became top-flight football for so long—the glamour was in short supply, however. Thousands of empty seats and the driving Yorkshire rain saw to that.”

“I can tell you first-hand that we are dealing with a regime that is not being forthright and will seize upon the faintest whiff of trepidation. This is a test to see how far they can push us before we break.”

“Nic. anſvver'd little to that, but immediately pull'd out a Boatſvvain's VVhistle; upon the firſt VVhiff, the Tradeſmen came jumping into the Room, […]”

“Singular: in old Broglie's time, six years ago, this Whiff of Grapeshot was promised: but it could not be given then; could not have profited then.”

“Fly about vvhither thou vvilt, […] thou ſhalt no vvhere finde reſt for the ſoles of thy feet, but in this Arke of Chriſts perfect righteouſneſſe: In vaine ſhalt thou ſeeke it […] in beds of luſt, cheſts of Mammon, vvhiffes and draughts of intoxication, ſongs of ribaldry, ſports of recreation; […]”

“I will yet go drink one whiffe more and if in the meane time any thing befall you that may require my presence, I will be so near to you, that, at the first whistling in your fist, I shall be with you forthwith: […]”

CEFR level