puff

Etymology 1

From Middle English puff, puf, from Old English pyf (“a blast of wind, puff”), imitative. Cognate with Middle Low German puf, pof.

noun

1. (countable) A sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth.
2. (uncountable) The ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself.
   out of puff
3. (countable) A small quantity of gas or smoke in the air.
   puff of smoke
4. (countable) A sudden but small gust of wind, smoke, etc.
   to every puff of wind a slave 1674, Thomas Flatman, Poems and Songs
   "The wind we had was only an early puff! You'll see we shall have our full allowance!" 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 184
5. (informal, countable) An act of inhaling smoke from a cigarette, cigar or pipe.
   When I went to bed that night I found that I could not get to sleep. At five o'clock I got up and took a hot bath. I climbed back into bed and lighted one of the Chinese-made "Great Wall" cigars my hosts had thoughtfully provided, and sat puffing on the cigar and making notes about the events of the momentous week. 1978, Richard Nixon, “The Presidency 1969-1972”, in RN: the Memoirs of Richard Nixon, Grosset & Dunlap, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 572
6. (uncountable, slang) The drug cannabis.
7. (countable) A flamboyant or alluring statement of praise.
   […] though I care not one straw for the personal puffs of which I myself am so often the subject […] 1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major
   […] we critics were not his fellow-guests, but simply deadheads whose business it was to "dress the house" and write puffs. 1931, Bernard Shaw, Our Theatre in the Nineties, volume 24, page 246
8. A portion of fabric gathered up so as to be left full in the middle.
   a sleeve with a puff at the shoulder
9. (countable) A light cake filled with cream, cream cheese, etc.
   cream puff
10. A puffball.
    Bozzacchio, an acorne. Also a puffe or mushrump full of dust. 1598, John Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, or Most Copious, and Exact Dictionarie in Italian and English, London: Edward Blount, page 47
11. A powder puff.
12. (dated, slang) A puffer, one who is employed by the owner or seller of goods sold at auction to bid up the price; an act or scam of that type.
    Is nothing to be said in praise of the "Emporiums" and "Repositories" and "Divans," which formerly were mere insignificant tailors', toymen's, and tobacconists' shops? Is the transition from the barber's pole to the revolving bust of the perruquier, nothing? — the leap from the bare counter-traversed shop to the carpeted and mirrored saloon of trade, nothing? Are they not, one and all, practical puffs, intended to invest commerce with elegance, and to throw a halo round extravagance? 1842, “A Paper on Puffing”, in Ainsworth's Magazine
    Here the duke is made the vehicle of the tailor's advertisement, and the prelusive compliments, ostensibly meant for his grace, merge into a covert recommendation of the coat. Several specimens might be given of this species of puff, which is to be met with in almost every paper, and is a favourite form with booksellers, professional men, &c. 1848, Mrs. White, “Puffs and Puffing”, in Sharpe's London Magazine
    He was the eighteenth century king of spin, or, in the language of the day, the "prince of puff". 2008, David Paton-Williamspage, Katterfelto, page xii
13. (genetics) A region of a chromosome exhibiting a local increase in diameter.
14. (slang, dated, UK) Life.
    Did you ever in your puff see such a perfect perisher? 1938, P. G. Wodehouse, The Code of the Woosters
15. (derogatory, slang, Britain, particularly northern UK) Synonym of poof: a male homosexual, especially an effeminate one.

Etymology 2

From Middle English puffen, from Old English pyffan (“to breathe out, blow with the mouth”). Compare Dutch puffen, German Low German puffen, German puffen, Danish puffe, Swedish puffa.

verb

1. (intransitive) To emit smoke, gas, etc., in puffs.
   Still on the down line, the engine puffed away to the South, and in a few moments had disappeared in the darkness! 1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, page 53
2. (intransitive) To pant.
3. (transitive, archaic) To advertise.
4. To blow as an expression of scorn.
5. To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated.
   'tis easy for a man to have a great opinion of his own knowledge , and be puff'd up by it 1690, Robert Boyle, The Christian Virtuoso
6. To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner; hence, to assume importance.
   Then came brave Glory puffing by. 1633, George Herbert, The Quip
7. To drive with a puff, or with puffs.
8. To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously.
   I puff the prostitute away. 1685, John Dryden, The Twenty-Ninth Ode of the First Book of Horace
9. To cause to swell or dilate; to inflate.
   a bladder puffed with air
10. To inflate with pride, flattery, self-esteem, etc.; often with up.
    puffed up with military success 1881, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides Translated into English
11. To praise with exaggeration; to flatter; to call public attention to by praises; to praise unduly.