2[intransitiveI, transitiveT] (also puff away)SMOKE to breathe in and out while smoking a cigarette or pipe 抽,吸〔香烟或烟斗〕
puff at/on
Kinane sat in silence, puffing thoughtfully at his pipe.
基南默默坐着若有所思地抽着烟斗。
3AIR[intransitiveI always + adverbadv/prepositionprep, transitiveT] if smoke, steam etc puffs from somewhere, or if something puffs it, it comes out in little clouds (使)〔烟或蒸汽〕一阵阵喷出,冒出
Steam puffed out of the chimney.
蒸汽从烟囱里一股一股地喷出来。
The boiler was puffing thick black smoke.
锅炉一股股地冒出浓浓的黑烟。
Don’t puff smoke into my face.
别把烟朝我脸上喷。
4[intransitiveI always + adverbadv/prepositionprep]TTT to move in a particular direction, sending out little clouds of steam or smoke 喷着气[烟]前进
The train puffed steadily across the bridge.
火车喷着蒸汽稳稳地驶过了桥。
5puff something ↔ outphrasal verbphr vpuff out your cheeks/chestHBH to make your cheeks or chest bigger by filling them with air 鼓起双颊/吸气挺胸
Henry puffed out his chest proudly.
亨利自豪地挺起胸膛。
Examples from the Corpus
puff out• At the fence, he suddenly sucked his stomach in and puffed his chest out.• Cyril sat on the dock and took a long puff.• By the time she opens her eyes, ready, a half dozen little substitutepuffs have blown out all the candles.• Exaggeratedclaims and puffs appear through out the text.
puff out your cheeks/chest• Gillespie's cheeks puffed out as he blew into his bent-bell trumpet.
6puff upphrasal verbphr v
a)INCREASE IN NUMBER OR AMOUNTto become bigger by increasing the amount of airinside, or to make something bigger in this way (使)膨胀,(使)鼓起
puff at/on• He puffed on a jointwrapped in yellowpaper.• A grandfatherly figurepuffs on a sousaphone to the accompaniment of drums and banjo.• He took such a long puff on his cigarette that he began to cough, his throatburning.• With a cry of rage, he puffed on his much-chewed stogie and fired at us.• Nate looked proud, puffing on his pipe as he told us about his adventure.• He stood in the hallwaypuffing on it for a few seconds to make sure it was fully alight.• A., clenches his cigarette between his teeth, puffs on it without taking it out of his mouth.• And then he stopped to chant and puff at the pipe.
puff2 noun
1SMOKE[countableC] the action of taking the smoke from a cigarette, pipe etc into your lungs 〔对香烟、烟斗等的〕吸,抽
puff on/at
He laughed and took a puff on his cigar.
他笑着吸了一口雪茄。
2AIR[countableC] a sudden small movement of wind, air, or smoke 〔风、空气或烟的〕一阵,一团,一股
cheese/jam/cream etc puff• Makes about 19 cream puffs.• He was courteous, but he did not feed him cream puffs.• Add a little cream puffgoodie for dessert and no one will be late for dinner.
4[uncountableU]British EnglishBrE informalBREATHE your breath 呼吸
I was out of puff (=had difficulty breathing).
我喘不过气来。
5.[countableC] (also puff piece) a piece of writing or a speech that praises someone too much – used to show disapproval 吹捧的文章[讲话]〔含贬义〕
took ... puff• With a flick he lit his cigarette and took a puff.• I took a puff once or twice in college.
puff of smoke/wind/air/steam etc• A true old devil, Manson vanishes in a puff of smoke.• The breezes are like a puff of air on a pinwheel.• Breaths of flame and puffs of smokeleaping from the surroundinghillsides.• At about a kilometre's range the whales' blow looked like small globular puffs of steam rising off the sea surface.• In a healthy larynx, the chords vibrate gently, releasing puffs of air that are transformed into the voice.• There are no obvioussigns of engine wear though a small puff of smokeexhausts following a warm start.• We aimed at the puffs of smoke we saw rising in front and on the left of us.• Now and again there was a tiny puff of smoke and the smack of a hand-grenade or a burst of machine-gun fire.