(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
1.
When you ~, 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 ~ed loudly...
Then he ~ed. There was a smell of burning...
He ~ed back the tears.
VERB: V, V, V n with adv
•
Sniff is also a noun.
At last the sobs ceased, to be replaced by ~s.
N-COUNT
2.
If you ~ something or ~ at it, you smell it by ~ing.
Suddenly, he stopped and ~ed the air...
She ~ed at it suspiciously.
VERB: V n, V at n
3.
You can use ~ to indicate that someone says something in a way that shows their disapproval or contempt.
‘Tourists!’ she ~ed.
VERB: V with quote
4.
If you say that something is not to be ~ed at, you think it is very good or worth having. If someone ~s at something, they do not think it is good enough, or they express their contempt for it.
The salary was not to be ~ed at either...
Foreign Office sources ~ed 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 ~s 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 ~ed glue.
VERB: V n
~er (~ers)
...teenage glue ~ers.
N-COUNT
6.
If you get a ~ 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 ~ of a murder investigation...
Have the Press got a ~ yet?...
Then, at the first ~ of danger, he was back at his post.
= whiff, hint
N-SING: usu N of n