transcription, транскрипция: [ snɪf ]
( sniffs, sniffing, sniffed)
1.
When you sniff , you breathe in air through your nose hard enough to make a sound, for example when you are trying not to cry, or in order to show disapproval.
She wiped her face and sniffed loudly...
Then he sniffed. There was a smell of burning...
He sniffed back the tears.
VERB : V , V , V n with adv
•
Sniff is also a noun.
At last the sobs ceased, to be replaced by sniffs.
N-COUNT
2.
If you sniff something or sniff at it, you smell it by sniffing.
Suddenly, he stopped and sniffed the air...
She sniffed at it suspiciously.
VERB : V n , V at n
3.
You can use sniff to indicate that someone says something in a way that shows their disapproval or contempt.
‘Tourists!’ she sniffed.
VERB : V with quote
4.
If you say that something is not to be sniffed at , you think it is very good or worth having. If someone sniffs at something, they do not think it is good enough, or they express their contempt for it.
The salary was not to be sniffed at either...
Foreign Office sources sniffed at reports that British troops might be sent.
VERB : usu passive , usu with brd-neg , be V-ed at , V at n
5.
If someone sniffs a substance such as glue, they deliberately breathe in the substance or the gases from it as a drug.
He felt light-headed, as if he’d sniffed glue.
VERB : V n
• sniff‧er
(sniffers)
...teenage glue sniffers.
N-COUNT
6.
If you get a sniff of something, you learn or guess that it might be happening or might be near. ( INFORMAL )
You know what they’ll be like if they get a sniff of a murder investigation...
Have the Press got a sniff yet?...
Then, at the first sniff of danger, he was back at his post.
= whiff, hint
N-SING : usu N of n