whiff
(hwĭf, wĭf)
[Perhaps alteration of Middle English weffe, offensive smell.]
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.
intransitive verb
- 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.
transitive verb
- To blow or convey in whiffs.
- To inhale through the nose; sniff: a dog whiffing the air.
- Baseball To strike out (a batter).
derivatives
- whiff́er
- noun
