chuff
Valid in Scrabble
- Scrabble points
- 16
- Words With Friends
- 17
- Letters
- 5
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Definition of chuff
16 senses · 4 parts of speech · etymology included
adj
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(British)Surly; annoyed; displeased; disgruntled.
“He refused to subscribe, he who had always given so largely to the cause; he was chuff, haughty, overbearing, and seemed bent upon antagonising every prominent suggestion that was made.”
“So I set out in the clear cold night, and began to think that great lords and ladies are not at all as well off as poor people thinks, with so much fine meat and drink wasted about them, and they having no wish for them; for I felt very chuff and uncomfortable, and was glad that I could not be in the same way again for six weeks and more to come.”
“"I am afraid of Lady Frances. And Miss Audrey can be very rude. She was very chuff with me on New Year's Day.” “She won't be chuff with you in my presence,” said Evelyn.”
“Well, I didn't mean with my eyes, Neb; so don't be so chuff on a fellow.”
See all 16 definitions Show less
adj
-
(British)Surly; annoyed; displeased; disgruntled.
“He refused to subscribe, he who had always given so largely to the cause; he was chuff, haughty, overbearing, and seemed bent upon antagonising every prominent suggestion that was made.”
“So I set out in the clear cold night, and began to think that great lords and ladies are not at all as well off as poor people thinks, with so much fine meat and drink wasted about them, and they having no wish for them; for I felt very chuff and uncomfortable, and was glad that I could not be in the same way again for six weeks and more to come.”
“"I am afraid of Lady Frances. And Miss Audrey can be very rude. She was very chuff with me on New Year's Day.” “She won't be chuff with you in my presence,” said Evelyn.”
“Well, I didn't mean with my eyes, Neb; so don't be so chuff on a fellow.”
-
(UK, dialectal)stupid; churlish; loutish.
“such chuff Fellows , who would not willingly allow their Children any Pleasures”
“Says Paddy , “the old one, faith, looks very chuff, though, But loves that big blackguard, I mean Lundy snuff, though;”
“The chuff old Joe to vex has come, The Doctor—who but he?—Parnell, and all the Irish scum, Have noisy vowed to be.”
“Neville Custance is a very chuff Boy indeed as I ever saw, seem displeased & cross with every thing - would not eat a bit of Cake when brought to him.”
- (British)Pleased, proud.
- (obsolete)Swollen with fat.
- (slang, vulgar)Swollen.
adv
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In a chuff manner.
“Macbeth when he talk'd very chuff About fighting -- how soon he got floor'd With a yard of cold steel by Macduff, And mine was that Wonderful Sword.”
“I was therefore obliged, sore against my will, to apply again to Carnot, who spoke very chuff about the trouble I gave him to write a second memorandum.”
“'I know I spoke chuff, aye, but – she wouldn't listen. She'll never agree ...'”
noun
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A coarse or stupid fellow.
“Hang ye, gorbellied knaves, are ye undone? / No, ye fat chuffs, I would your store were here!”
- (uncountable)Superfluous small talk that is free of conflict, offers no character development, description or insight, and does not advance the story or plot.
-
(countable, uncountable)A noisy puffing sound.
“Then the brass bell on top of the boiler rings out and a single massive chuff! of steam issues from the bowels of the loco. Then another chuff! – a blast of steam – another chuff! and the huge drive shafts tighten against the wheels.”
- (countable, uncountable)A breathy noise produced by a tiger, similar in function to a cat's purr.
- (slang, vulgar)The vagina.
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(slang, vulgar)The anus.
“The car behind was following too close — it was right up my chuff.”
verb
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(intransitive)To make noisy puffing sounds, as of a steam locomotive.
“The horses stumbled along, coughing and chuffing.”
“[…] and the small lit up train that chuffed past in the cutting made it seem like real night.”
“They walk together in silence while behind them a freight train chuffs and screaks through the crossing.”
“The pigeons chuff and chortle off in indignant disappointment.”
“Far less straightforward was what happened at about 0130 on Friday June 2 1944, as a long goods train was chuffing and clanking its unhurried way across the darkened landscape towards Soham, from Ely.”
- (British, slang)To break wind.
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Of a powder, propellant, or explosive charge: to become extinguished and reignited intermittently.
“1967 Leo Allen Lukenas: The ignition transient in small solid propellant rocket motors. Princeton University Double base propellants often require ignition pressures of as much as 400 psia to avoid the problem of chuffing or hangfires.”
“The original work of Huffington on chuffing and oscillatory burning of cordite goes back to the beginning of the 1950s.”
“Chuffing followed by full recovery to normal functioning (Figure 3)”
“The pressure at which chuffing occurs depends on the powder composition and on the temperature of the charge. The lowering of the initial charge temperature facilitates chuffing.”
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(UK, euphemistic)Used as a replacement for obscenities, particularly fuck.
“Oh chuff off! I'm so chuffing fed up with all of the spam posts on my timeline.”
Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.
Etymology
15th century, dialectal, from Middle English chuffe (“a rustic, boor”), in noun sense “stupid fellow”. Adjective sense “surly, displeased” from 1832.
Words you can make from chuff
3 playable · top: HUFF (13 pts)
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