I. ˈhəf verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: imitative
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to emit puffs (as of air or steam) : blow , pant
he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down — Three Little Pigs
another tug huffs quietly somewhere down below — W.V.Anderson
b. : to progress with puffing
the first cyclists huffed into sight — Time
2.
a. : to speak in a threatening and bombastic manner : make empty threats : bluster , rant
faced with new wage demands, management huffs about spiraling costs and the dangers of inflation
children will soon discover that this is only huffing and puffing on your part — H.R.Litchfield & L.H.Dembo
b.
(1) : to react indignantly : speak resentfully : snap , storm
the father huffs and puffs and says, “Do you think I'm made of money” — Peter DeVries
(2) : to behave indignantly : flounce
resigned in pique and huffed off to London — Janet Flanner
3. archaic : to become angry : take offense
the woman has huffed and won't trust me — Frederick Marryat
4. now dialect : to expand in size : enlarge
the bread huffs
5. : to remove an opponent's checker from the board for failure to make a possible jump
transitive verb
1.
a. : to blow into : inflate , puff
it huffs air steadily … through its hollow shaft — Newsweek
their buying huffed low-priced motor shares — Time
b. : to accomplish with puffing
huffed himself up and stumped out of the room — Jackson Burgess
2. archaic : to treat with contempt : bully
quarreling with his bread and butter and huffing the waiter — Washington Irving
3. : to make angry or petulant : provoke , annoy
this astounding rigidity of custom huffed the king — Francis Hackett
4. : to remove (an opponent's checker) from the board for failure to make a possible jump
II. noun
( -s )
1. : puff II 1a
at the moment of firing he might actually turn his face away from his sights to avoid the huff from the pan — Odell & Willard Shepard
2. : a fit of anger or pique
in an … unprecedented display of parliamentary huff , refused to join the traditional procession — Mollie Panter-Downes
— usually used in the phrase in a huff
the dissenting experts will secede in a huff — Ernst Pulgram
if you encounter a person who's in a huff about something, you'd better wait until he cools off — W.J.Reilly
3. obsolete
a. : an attitude or display of arrogance
quell … the huff of the proud — Randle Cotgrave
b. : an arrogant or conceited person
this young huff commanded a sergeant to pay him respect — William Darrell
4. dialect England
a. : light leavened pastry
b. : huff cap 1
5. : an act of huffing in checkers
Synonyms: see offense
III. adjective
dialect : huffed, offended