puffer

Dictionary: puff·er   (pŭf'ər)

Any of various prickly, often poisonous, chiefly marine fishes of the family Tetraodontidae that are capable of puffing up by swallowing water or air. Also called blowfish, swellfish.

A secret key cryptography method that uses a variable length key from 32 to 448 bits long. It uses the block cipher method, which breaks the text into 64-bit blocks before encrypting them. Written by Bruce Schneier, as a free replacement for DES or IDEA, it is considered very fast and secure. See encryption algorithm.

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(click to enlarge)
Starry puffer fish (Arothron stellatus). (credit: Douglas Faulkner)

Any of about 90 species (family Tetraodontidae) of fishes that, when disturbed, inflate themselves into a globular shape with air or water. Most species occur in warm and temperate seas worldwide; some occur in brackish or fresh water. Puffers have tough, usually prickly, skin; their fused teeth form a beaklike structure, split in the center of each jaw. The largest grow to 3 ft (90 cm) long, but most are considerably smaller. Though they contain a lethal toxin, they are sometimes eaten, especially in Japan, where puffers (called fugu) are prepared by a specially trained chef.

For more information on puffer, visit Britannica.com.

Puffer may mean:

• Inhaler, a medical device used for delivering medication into the body via the lungs
• Pufferfish, a type of fish which can inflate itself as a defence mechanism
• Clyde puffer, a type of cargo ship used in the Clyde estuary and off the west coast of Scotland
• USS Puffer, two submarine vessels of the United States Navy
• Puffer, an enemy from the Metroid series
• Puffer, a type of circuit breaker
• Puffer, name for a particular type of German Wheellock pistol, usually from Nuremberg or Augsburg
• Supercharger for a motor car engine

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - pindsvinefisk, reklamemager, futtog

Nederlands (Dutch)
opschepper, blaasvis

Français (French)
n. - locomotive à vapeur, (Zool) poisson-globe

Deutsch (German)
n. - Paffer, Puffzug, (zo.) Kugelfisch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ασθμαίνων, λαχανιασμένος, (μτφ.) ατμομηχανή

Italiano (Italian)
sfiatato, pesce palla

Português (Portuguese)
n. - soprador (m), bajulador (m), baiacu (m) (Ictiol.)

Русский (Russian)
паровоз, подставное лицо вздувающие цены на аукционе

Español (Spanish)
n. - fumador, locomotora, pez globo, erizo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - sprejflaska, tuff-tuff tåg

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
吹气的人, 做凸出花纹的人, 吹嘘的人

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 吹氣的人, 做凸出花紋的人, 吹噓的人

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 마구 추어 올리는[칭찬하는] 사람

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - プッと吹く人, やたらにほめたてる人

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) نوع من السمك, مدخن, مداح‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אדם מתנשם, קטר, דג-הכדור‬

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