whiff

(hw

f, w

f)
KEY
NOUN:
- A slight, gentle gust of air; a waft:
a whiff of cool air.
-
- A brief, passing odor carried in the air:
a whiff of perfume.
- A minute trace:
"Humanity is unregenerable and hates the language of conformity, since conformity has a whiff of the inhuman about it"
(Anthony Burgess).
- An inhalation, as of air or smoke:
Take a whiff of this pipe.
-
Baseball
A strikeout.
VERB:
whiffed
,
whiff·ing
,
whiffs
VERB:
intr.
- To be carried in brief gusts; waft:
puffs of smoke whiffing from the chimney.
-
Sports
To swing at and miss a ball or puck.
-
Baseball
To strike out. Used of a batter.
VERB:
tr.
- To blow or convey in whiffs.
- To inhale through the nose; sniff:
a dog whiffing the air.
-
Baseball
To strike out (a batter).
ETYMOLOGY:
Perhaps alteration of Middle English
weffe,
offensive smell
OTHER FORMS:
whiff
er
(Noun)