chuff

¹ American  

[chuhf] / tʃʌf /

noun

1. a rustic.

2. a boor; churl.

3. a miserly fellow.

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chuff ² American  

[chuhf, choof] / tʃʌf, tʃʊf /

adjective

British Dialect.

1. chubby; fat.

2. swollen with pride; proud; elated.

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chuff ³ American  

[chuhf] / tʃʌf /

noun

1. a sound of or like the exhaust of a steam engine.

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verb (used without object)

1. to emit or proceed with chuffs; puff.

   The train chuffed along.

chuff ¹ British  

/ tʃʌf /

noun

1. a puffing sound of or as if of a steam engine

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verb

1. (intr) to move while emitting such sounds

   the train chuffed on its way

chuff ² British  

/ tʃʌf /

noun

1. dialect a boor; churl; sullen fellow

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chuff ³ British  

/ tʃʌf /

verb

1. slang (tr; usually passive) to please or delight

   he was chuffed by his pay rise

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Etymology

Origin of chuff¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English chuffe, choffe, chutte, of obscure origin

Origin of chuff²

First recorded in 1600–10; compare earlier chuff “puffed cheek”

Origin of chuff³

First recorded in 1910–15; imitative

Explanation

To chuff is to breathe with an audible puff sound. You might chuff in the cold air as you jog down a frozen winter street. Anyone who huffs and puffs can be said to chuff, although the old-fashioned verb is often used to describe the sharp puffing sound made by a steam engine. You might read in a novel, "She heard the train chuff as it pulled out of the station into the night." The word chuff is imitative of the sound itself and dates from the early twentieth century. In British English, chuff has an entirely different meaning, "pleased or happy."

Example Sentences

“This repertoire — with its contrapuntal extravaganzas, its antiphonal balances, its espousal of instruments that chuff and wheeze and speak directly to a microphone — was made for stereo,” he wrote.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2024

The facility is now allowed to chuff out some 353 tons per year of VOCs, double the limit set out in its original permit eight years ago.

From Reuters • Jun. 24, 2022

The vault's stone hull juts like a shipwreck in the drifted ice while polar bears chuff and lumber past the door.

From Scientific American • Jun. 14, 2022

They’re worried and watching every yawn, roll, cough and chuff from the big cats, who have been lethargic and uninterested in their usual meat slabs.

From Washington Post • Sep. 27, 2021

He let out a chuff of laughter, revealed missing lower incisors.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Related Words

• boor
• lout
• oaf