whiff

Where “whiff” sits in English frequency

Definition

1. 1
   A brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air; a waft.
2. 2
   A short inhalation or exhalation of breath, especially when accompanied by smoke from a cigarette or pipe.
3. 3
   A short inhalation or exhalation of breath, especially when accompanied by smoke from a cigarette or pipe.
4. 4
   An odour (usually unpleasant) carried briefly through the air.
5. 5
   A small quantity of cloud, smoke, vapour, etc.; specifically (obsolete), chiefly in take the whiff: a puff of tobacco smoke.
6. 6
   A flag used as a signal.
7. 7
   Any of a number of flatfish such as (dated) the lemon sole (Microstomus kitt) and now, especially, the megrim (Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis) and (with a descriptive word) a species of large-tooth flounder or sand flounder (family Paralichthyidae).
8. 8
   A slight sign of something; a burst, a glimpse, a hint.
9. 9
   A slight attack or touch.
10. 10
    A characteristic quality of something; a flavour, a savour, a taste.
11. 11
    A sound like that of air passing through a small opening; a short or soft whistle.
12. 12
    A failure to hit a ball in various sports (for example, golf); a miss.
13. 13
    A failure to hit a ball in various sports (for example, golf); a miss.
14. 14
    An expulsion of explosive or shot.
15. 15
    An outrigged boat for one person propelled by oar.
16. 16
    A sip of an alcoholic beverage.

Etymology

The noun is possibly: * partly a variant of Middle English wef, weffe (“bad smell, stench, stink; exhalation; vapour; tendency of something to go bad (?)”) [and other forms], possibly a variant of either: ** waf, waif, waife (“odour, scent”), possibly from waven (“to move to and fro, sway, wave; to stray, wander; to move in a weaving manner; (figuratively) to hesitate, vacillate”), from Old English wafian (“to wave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”); or ** wef (“a blow, stroke”), from weven (“to travel, wander; to move to and fro, flutter, waver; to blow something away, waft; to cause something to move; to fall; to cut deeply; to sever; to give up, yield; to give deference to; to avoid; to afflict, trouble; to beckon, signal”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Old English wefan (“to weave”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”)), or from wǣfan (see bewǣfan, ymbwǣfan); and * partly onomatopoeic. Noun sense 6 (“name of a number of flatfish”) is possibly derived from sense 1 (“brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air”), sense 4 (“small quantity of cloud, smoke, vapour, etc.”), and other such senses. The verb and adjective are derived from the noun. Verb sense 2.6 (“to catch fish by dragging a handline near the surface of the water from a moving boat”) is possibly derived from sense 1.1 (“to carry or convey (something) by, or as by, a whiff or puff of air”), sense 2.2 (“to be carried, or move as if carried, by a puff of air”), and other such senses. The interjection is derived from noun sense 7.4 (“a sound like that of air passing through a small opening; a short or soft whistle”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hwiff,whfif,whhiff,whif,wihff,wwhiff

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of whiff - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Frequently Asked Questions