whiff
pronunciation
How to pronounce whiff in British English:
UK [wɪf]
How to pronounce whiff in American English:
US [hwɪf, wɪf]
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- Noun:
- a short light gust of air
- a lefteye flounder found in coastal waters from New England to Brazil
- a strikeout resulting from the batter swinging at and missing the ball for the third strike
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- Verb:
- perceive by inhaling through the nose
- drive or carry as if by a puff of air
- strike out by swinging and missing the pitch charged as the third
- smoke and exhale strongly
- utter with a puff of air
Word Origin
- whiff (n.)
- 13c., weffe "foul scent or odor," of imitative origin. Modern form became popular late 16c. with tobacco smoking, probably influenced by whiffle "blow in gusts or puffs" (1560s). The verb in the baseball slang sense "to swing at a ball and miss" first recorded 1913.
Example
- 1. Any whiff of fraud could spark violent protests .
- 2. A whiff of cold-war menace hung over the european union summit on march 1st .
- 3. As britain 's former colonial subjects come back as masters , there is barely a whiff of post-imperial regret .
- 4. As the campaign is backed by the american petroleum institute , these events have a whiff of corporate manipulation .
- 5. But if there is a legacy from those militant times it may be the faint whiff of socialist realism in the prescriptive tendencies displayed by some norwegian writers .