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whiff

 
(hwĭf, wĭf) pronunciation
n.
  1. A slight, gentle gust of air; a waft: a whiff of cool air.
    1. A brief, passing odor carried in the air: a whiff of perfume.
    2. A minute trace: "Humanity is unregenerable and hates the language of conformity, since conformity has a whiff of the inhuman about it" (Anthony Burgess).
  2. An inhalation, as of air or smoke: Take a whiff of this pipe.
  3. Baseball. A strikeout.

v., whiffed, whiff·ing, whiffs.

v.intr.
  1. To be carried in brief gusts; waft: puffs of smoke whiffing from the chimney.
  2. Sports. To swing at and miss a ball or puck.
  3. Baseball. To strike out. Used of a batter.
v.tr.
  1. To blow or convey in whiffs.
  2. To inhale through the nose; sniff: a dog whiffing the air.
  3. Baseball. To strike out (a batter).

[Perhaps alteration of Middle English weffe, offensive smell.]

whiffer whiff'er n.

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Roget's Thesaurus:

whiff

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noun

    A slight amount or indication: breath, dash, ghost, hair, hint, intimation, semblance, shade, shadow, soupçon, streak, suggestion, suspicion, taste, tinge, touch, trace, whisper. Informal whisker. See big/small/amount, show/hide.

verb

    To perceive with the olfactory sense: nose, scent, smell, sniff, snuff. Idioms: catchgeta whiff of. See smells/good smells/bad smells/smell.

verb
verb

1:

a:
intr. Of a batter in baseball or a golfer: to miss the ball. (1913 —) .

b:
trans. Of a baseball pitcher: to cause (a batter) to strike out. (1914 —) .
Nebraska State Journal Hurler whiffs 20 (1941). noun


2:
A failure to hit the ball. (1952 —) .

[From earlier senses, to blow or puff lightly, a puff or breath of air.]


Previous:where, wheeze, wheelman
Next:whiffled, whifflow, whinge
Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'whiff'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to whiff, see:
  • Baseball - whiff: (vb) to swing and miss
  • Smells - whiff: slight trace of odor or smell of something


  See crossword solutions for the clue Whiff.
Translations:

Whiff

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Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - duftbrise, pust, lugt, drag
v. tr. - dufte, lugte
v. intr. - mærke duften af

2.
n. - glashvarre

Nederlands (Dutch)
vleugje, trekje, rookwolkje, klein sigaartje, roeibootje, opsnuiven, puffen, uit/ wegblazen

Français (French)
1.
n. - odeur, bouffée, (fig) relent
v. tr. - sentir l'odeur de
v. intr. - s'échapper par bouffées (de la fumée), flotter (une odeur)

2.
n. - (Zool) limande

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - leichter Geruch, Hauch, Zigarillo
v. - (ugs.) riechen, (leicht) blasen

2.
n. - Megrim

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πνοή, ελαφρό φύσημα, ελαφρά ρουφηξιά, τζούρα, ελαφρά οσμή, (καθομ.) πουράκι
v. - πνέω/φυσώ ή ρουφώ ελαφρά

Italiano (Italian)
alito, soffiare, pescare alla lenza

Português (Portuguese)
n. - brisa (f), sopro (m)
v. - soprar, fumar

Русский (Russian)
дуновение, табачный дымок, затяжка, короткая сигара, запах, свист (ветра, пули), вымпел, флажок, веять, пускать клубы дыма, чуять, свистеть (о пуле)

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - olfateada, olor o sabor fugaz, bocanada, fumada, soplo, olorcillo
v. tr. - olfatear
v. intr. - despedir olor desagradable, soplar, echar bocanadas de humo

2.
n. - cualquier pescado pleuronecto con ambos ojos del lado izquierdo de la cabeza

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - pust, doft, bloss, moln, cigarrcigarrett, roddbåt, flundra
v. - pusta, fläkta, dofta, bolma, blossa, dörja (fisk)

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
一吹, 一阵香气, 一吸, 轻轻地吹, 被三击出局, 喷气, 吹送, 吸, 喷出

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 一吹, 一陣香氣, 一吸
v. intr. - 輕輕地吹, 被三擊出局, 噴氣
v. tr. - 吹送, 吸, 噴出

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 희미하게 맡아지는 냄새, (담배의) 한 모금
v. tr. - 희미한 냄새를 맡다, 불어 보내다, ~에게 삼진을 먹이다
v. intr. - 희미한 냄새를 맡다, 불어 보내다, ~에게 삼진을 먹이다

2.
n. - 가자미의 일종

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 一吹き, ぷんと来るにおい, 一服, 葉巻き, 空振り
v. - 軽く吹き出す, いやなにおいがする, 三振する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) هبه, هفه, نفحه, نفخه, نشقه, أثر ضئيل (فعل) يهب, يدخن, يستنشق, ينفخ على, يرتفع أو ينتشر كالدخان, يطير, يزفر, ينفث‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮משב, ריח קל, שאיפה, מציצת-סיגר, סיגר קטן, עקבות/רמז לשערוריה וכו', מטח קטן של פגזים וכו', סירת-חתירה קלה וצרה‬
v. tr. - ‮הדיף ריח, שאף, נשף‬
v. intr. - ‮נדף, נשב, נישב‬
n. - ‮דג שטוח ששתי עיניו בצד שמאל של הראש‬


 
 

 

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American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Roget's Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
 Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang. Oxford University Press. © 1997, 2008, 2010 All rights reserved.  Read more
Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
 Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved.  Read more
Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary. Collins Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary © Anne Bradford, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008 HarperCollins Publishers All rights reserved.  Read more
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