Meaning of huff in English:

huff

Pronunciation /hʌf/

See synonyms for huff

Translate huff into Spanish

verb

1no object Blow out air loudly on account of exertion.
‘he was huffing under a heavy load’
- ‘I was huffing and puffing to keep up with him’
- ‘I could hear Milly huffing and puffing with the exertion of it.’
- ‘He was wearing his work uniform, his hair flying in his face as he skidded to a stop before them, huffing and puffing from the exertion.’
- ‘By the time Mr. Mineo had everything under control, he was huffing and puffing with the exertion.’
- ‘Any athlete, and perhaps especially any runner, can tell you some of the most sublime, lucid moments of introspection come to you while huffing and puffing and pacing in the heat of sport.’
- ‘Patterson said: ‘He's short of match practice and he was huffing and puffing a bit towards the end but he gave his all and everything considered he did a great job for us.’’
- ‘Yes, I know that I just got through telling you that I've got my windows open, but I'm not out there huffing and puffing lots of the nasty stuff into my lungs.’
- ‘The readers who were huffing and puffing in Downer's defence, or accusing you of gutter journalism, most likely have their snouts in various troughs themselves.’
- ‘I'm sweating, huffing and puffing, smelling of lake, and trying not to swallow the bugs that keep hitting me in the face as I speed along the trail.’
- ‘While I still had the same muscle tone, I decided - yes, once again - to get back on the wagon and start huffing and puffing the excess weight off.’
- ‘I was huffing and puffing, trying to get my breath back.’
- ‘They're off, huffing and puffing through this grueling physical education training under a blazing sun that's far away from home.’
- ‘I don't seem to find it at all difficult to work up an enthusiasm for being outdoors, wrapped up all snug and cosy, rosy cheeked and huffing great breath-clouds into the frosty air.’
- ‘This evening I found myself popping and huffing a little as I breathed, not much, and it was at the height of the smoke assault, so I'm not getting silly about it.’
- ‘All very well to feel nourished in the billowy comfort of my nightie; huffing myself into work clothes this morning took almost an hour longer than expected!’
- ‘He huffed causing the hair in front of his eyes to fly up and land crazily in his eyes.’
- ‘I wrapped myself around him, we kept up our quick pace for awhile until I felt his grip loosen and he panted and huffed and puffed, taking a mouthful of air and collapsing on my body.’
- ‘After the pond flashed by, Carlile stared out the window until the train jolted and huffed into the station.’
- ‘And if you think the players are huffing a bit more than they ought to, that's because so many spectators light up during games, despite a smoking ban in sports venues.’
- ‘She huffed, and proceeded to twist and wiggle until her legs were facing the aisle and she could look at him fully.’
- ‘Gwen huffed a bit, breathing in what she thought was going to be her last decent long slow breath before pasting and re-applying, getting everyone ready.’
2Express one's feeling of petty annoyance.
with direct speech ‘‘Huh!’ Nanny huffed’
- ‘She huffs in annoyance and I can't help but feel a bit satisfied at having irritated her.’
- ‘Pursing her lips in annoyance again, she huffed.’
- ‘Cat huffed in annoyance, but continued to drag him along behind the maître de, who was unwittingly leading them both in the jaws of death.’
- ‘Her escape unsuccessful Mary huffed with annoyance.’
- ‘Tensing, his annoyance growing, Ikeda huffed at her statement in disagreement, beginning to feel incensed at the offense to his partner.’
- ‘And Megan roared with laughter while Krissy huffed out of annoyance.’
- ‘Aeslyn huffed in annoyance, but halted to let Adelaide catch up, nevertheless.’
- ‘A light smile appeared on his lips as her face reddened and she huffed in annoyance.’
- ‘She huffed in a slight sulk, she knew he was bothered by Karen's antics from earlier in the day, but he seemed to be cool about it.’
- ‘James waited until she finished huffing before he deemed it necessary to respond.’
- ‘A hand was waved in front of my eye, alternately shading it and exposing it to candlelight until the doctor huffed and stepped away.’
- ‘‘Fine,’ He huffed brushing his shaggy black hair out of his eyes.’
- ‘‘I don't think your friend likes me,’ Dale huffed appearing a few seconds later.’
- ‘‘For your information this little rat insulted me’ Debbie huffed sticking her chin up snobbily.’
- ‘‘Thanks, I'm glad you think so highly of me,’ Adele huffed getting to her feet with her mug of tea.’
- ‘‘I don't want to know the evidence,’ he huffed last week when asked about the possibility of Neville being the real wizard of the word.’
- ‘Ministers huffed last week that they had no intention of developing Orwellian surveillance.’
- ‘The artist nearly huffed his way out of the offices of the fledgling humor magazine.’
- ‘She inwardly huffed, knowing that this would go on forever until she stepped in to give the reluctant man a push.’
- ‘I felt him staring at me as he huffed his displeasure.’
3North American informal with object Sniff fumes from (petrol or solvents) for a euphoric effect.
- ‘it is important to educate young people about the dangers of huffing inhalants’
- ‘You might as well be huffing paint thinner or sniffing glue.’
- ‘In this case the dad chose to huff gasoline in the basement.’
- ‘Jose did a search on Google for this, and found on a website that it was possible to huff spray paint and get high.’
- ‘There's never enough food, so the kids decided to huff paint instead, as it makes the hunger go away.’
- ‘To prolong the high, many inhalant abusers continue to sniff, or huff, repeatedly over several hours.’
- ‘I sat in the back seat, with the bag pulled up around my face like I was huffing glue.’
- ‘For instance, their first disc featured a cover shot of a figure wearing a device used to huff shoe polish.’
- ‘The two are sitting on a bed, huffing a can of compressed air and squealing at each other about how they can't feel their faces.’
- ‘As soon as dad comes home from his three hour workday, mom will be in the basement huffing model airplane glue.’
- ‘Are you huffing your WW2 Tiger Tank model glue again?’
4with object (in draughts) remove (an opponent's piece that could have made a capture) from the board as a forfeit.
‘The detection of an opportunity to huff is not essential, but you may want to consider how it could be done.’
- ‘if a player noticed that the opponent had failed to capture when the option was open, the player can huff the offending piece before the next move is made and it is removed from the board.’
Origin
From the former practice of blowing on the piece.

noun

usually in singular

A fit of petty annoyance.
‘she walked off in a huff’
- ‘Megan entered the Literature room in a huff, her temper flared and her eyes revealing her state of mind.’
- ‘In a huff of elegant but direct fury, Lorraine shot me another of her icy glares - one that so clearly conveyed Death - and stormed back into the house.’
- ‘I'd like to ask Mr. Napper for his rationale in this behavior but somehow I think he wouldn't be able to explain it and would probably stomp off in a huff when asked.’
- ‘When the hotel you've checked into takes a photocopy of your driver's license, you can storm out in a huff, but that's not a sustainable way of behaving, especially when they all start doing it.’
- ‘The young Liverpool defender went off in a huff last weekend, complaining he had not been given the first team opportunities he expected when he joined Wanderers on loan on transfer deadline day.’
- ‘After resigning in a huff, and making statements like he would not reconsider his decision, it seemed like he was burning his bridges, taking a bold step, breaking a path.’
- ‘You don't storm off in a huff because you think you are more important than those who came to listen to you.’
- ‘They went off in a huff, waving their arms, calling me names.’
- ‘He told me to find out how many Scottish hacks would be flying to Austria to cover his oration and went off in a huff when I reported back that no one had expressed the slightest interest in the event.’
- ‘Chrysler had no option but to march off in a huff.’
- ‘Indeed, I wouldn't be altogether surprised if they did hire a few folks to storm off in a huff, and the rest followed of their own accord.’
- ‘For Glasgow, the forwards matched their opponents for much of the time and winger Jon Steel proved that he hasn't spent the summer in a huff after missing the Canada tour.’
- ‘Farrell sticks around, while Renner storms off in a huff.’
- ‘He explained about the doctor's appointment, his admittedly childish reaction and my mom leaving the house in a huff.’
- ‘Rather than storm off in a huff, Hal arranged this co-headlining tour, providing a chance to see two bands that won't be playing in small venues for long.’
- ‘In the above example of the jealous spouse, the husband reacted to the feeling of jealousy by announcing his displeasure to his wife and leaving in a huff.’
- ‘It was all over in seconds, and it turned out this bloke had argued with his girlfriend, and had gone driving off in a huff, stopping in our little lane to consider what he was going to do next.’
- ‘After a few more months of things escalating, Chris couldn't take it anymore, and she moved out one day in a huff.’
- ‘A couple of people left in a huff, but most of us just stared in amazement.’
- ‘The foreign owner of a factory, farm, forest or beach-house can go off in a huff, but the physical entity remains.’
bad mood, sulk, fit of bad humour, fit of pique, pet, temper, tantrum, rage, fury, passion
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