Huff

[huhf] /hʌf/

noun
1.
a mood of sulking anger; a fit of resentment:
Just because you disagree, don’t walk off in a huff.
verb (used with object)
2.
to give offense to; make angry.
3.
to treat with arrogance or contempt; bluster at; hector or bully.
4.
Checkers. to remove (a piece) from the board as a penalty for failing to make a compulsory capture.
5.
Slang. to inhale the vapors of in order to become intoxicated:
to huff glue.
verb (used without object)
6.
to take offense; speak indignantly.
7.
to or blow; breathe heavily.
8.
to swell with pride or arrogance; swagger or bluster.
/hʌf/
noun
1.
a passing mood of anger or pique (esp in the phrase in a huff)
verb
2.
to make or become angry or resentful
3.
(intransitive) to blow or puff heavily
4.
(draughts) Also blow. to remove (an opponent’s draught) from the board for failure to make a capture
5.
(transitive) (obsolete) to bully
6.
huffing and puffing, empty threats or objections; bluster
v.

mid-15c., apparently imitative of exhaling. Extended sense of “bluster with indignation” is attested from 1590s. Related: Huffed; huffing. As a slang term for a type of narcotics abuse, by 1996. As a noun from 1590s; to leave in a huff is recorded from 1778. Popular terms for “strong beer or ale” noted from 1577 include huff cap as well as mad dog and dragon’s milk.

verb

To inhale glue, gasoline, or aerosol fumes for intoxicating effect: The deaths of three Wisconsin teenagers after they inhaled aerosol fumes to get high, the practice known as ”huffing” (1980s+ Narcotics)

Related Terms

in a huff

compression
To compress data using Huffman coding. Various programs that use such methods have been called “HUFF” or some variant thereof.
Opposite: puff. Compare crunch, compress.
[Jargon File]
(1994-12-23)
In addition to the idiom beginning with huff