“puffeth” is a form of
puff
/pʌf/ noun, verb
- noun (countable) A sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth.
- noun (uncountable, slang) The ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself. “out of puff”
- noun (countable) A small quantity of gas or smoke in the air. “puff of smoke”
- noun (countable) A sudden but small gust of wind, smoke, etc.
- noun (informal, countable) An act of inhaling smoke from a cigarette, cigar or pipe.
- noun (uncountable, slang) The drug cannabis.
- noun (countable) A flamboyant or alluring statement of praise.
- noun A portion of fabric gathered up so as to be left full in the middle. “a sleeve with a puff at the shoulder”
- verb (intransitive) To emit smoke, gas, etc., in puffs.
- verb (intransitive) To pant.
- verb (transitive, archaic) To advertise.
- verb To blow as an expression of scorn.
- verb To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated.
- verb To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner; hence, to assume importance.
- verb To drive with a puff, or with puffs.
- verb To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously.
Synonyms
wind drag bhang benj boo broccoli bud buddha cannabis cheeba choof daccha dank devil's lettuce djamba doja doobage dope endo gage puff of air whiff quilt comforter comfort powderpuff ottoman pouf pouffe hassock
Etymology
From Middle English puff, puf, from Old English pyf (“a blast of wind, puff”), from Proto-West Germanic *puf(f)- (“to blow, puff”), of imitative origin. Cognate with Dutch puf (“puff, wind, fart”), Middle Low German puf, pof (“puff”).
From Middle English puffen, from Old English pyffan (“to breathe out, blow with the mouth”). Compare Dutch puffen, German Low German puffen, German puffen, Danish puffe, Swedish puffa.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A sudden and single emission of breath from the mouth; hence, any sudden or short blast of wind; a slight gust; a whiff. " To every puff of wind a slave." Flatman.
- noun Anything light and filled with air. Specifically: (a) A puffball.
- verb To blow in puffs, or with short and sudden whiffs.
- verb To blow, as an expression of scorn; --with at. It is really to defy Heaven to puff at damnation. South.
Etymology [Akin to G. & Sw. puff a blow, Dan. puf, D. pof; of imitative origin. Cf. Buffet.]
Etymology [Akin to G. puffen to pop, buffet, puff, D. poffen to pop, puffen to blow, Sw. puffa to push, to cuff, Dan. puffe to pop, thump. See Puff, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “puff”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details