huff
a mood of sulking anger; a fit of resentment: Just because you disagree, don't walk off in a huff.
to give offense to; make angry.
to treat with arrogance or contempt; bluster at; hector or bully.
Checkers. to remove (a piece) from the board as a penalty for failing to make a compulsory capture.
Slang. to inhale the vapors of in order to become intoxicated: to huff glue.
to take offense; speak indignantly.
to puff or blow; breathe heavily.
to swell with pride or arrogance; swagger or bluster.
Origin of huff
1Other words for huff
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use huff in a sentence
He and his friend huffed the iron wheelbarrow up the ridge, lashed it onto the Jeep.
“When a party is in the minority, it has to add, not subtract,” huffed Jennifer Rubin.
The Bill Clinton and DLC Model For Reinventing the Republican Party | Will Marshall | March 14, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAs one Republican member huffed to Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, Cruz is “Jim DeMint without the charm.”
An Iowa social-conservative leader huffed, “That is a pro-choice position.”
The Germans have huffed and puffed but always caved in, in the end.
The worthy baronet would have been a little huffed, but for the preoccupation of his mind with other matters, chiefly political.
Name and Fame | Adeline SergeantMiss Douce huffed and snorted down her nostrils that quivered imperthnthn like a snout in quest.
Ulysses | James JoyceSo he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed and he huffed, and at last he blew the house down and then ate up the little pig.
All About the Three Little Pigs | AnonymousOne is not in the habit of thinking of Wordsworth as capable of being ‘huffed,’ but the writer of the letters feared that he was.
The Bibliotaph | Leon H. VincentOne day, when he was speaking upon the subject, I asked him if he ever huffed his wife about his dinner?
Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson, LL.D. | Hesther Lynch Piozzi
British Dictionary definitions for huff
/ (hʌf) /
a passing mood of anger or pique (esp in the phrase in a huff)
to make or become angry or resentful
(intr) to blow or puff heavily
Also: blow draughts to remove (an opponent's draught) from the board for failure to make a capture
(tr) obsolete to bully
huffing and puffing empty threats or objections; bluster
Origin of huff
1Derived forms of huff
- huffish or huffy, adjective
- huffily or huffishly, adverb
- huffiness or huffishness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with huff
In addition to the idiom beginning with huff
- huff and puff
also see:
- in a huff
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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