| 释义 |
▪ I. whiff, n.1|hwɪf|
Also 6–7 whiffe, 8–9 whif.
[? Partly an alteration of ME. weffe (= offensive odour or taste, vapour, hoisted signal), partly a new onomatopœic formation. The senses are in part identical with those of waff n. and waft n.1]
I.
1. a. A slight puff or gust of wind, a breath.
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. iv. 334 The Winde..Whirls with a whiff the sails of swelling clout. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 495 With the whiffe and winde of his fell Sword, Th' vnnerued Father fals. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. 195 Their ensignes..Waue to and fro with whiffes of wind. 1786in Mme. D'Arblay's Diary 6 Oct., A whiff [of wind] from the King's stairs, enough to blow you half a mile off! 1838Dickens O. Twist xxxix, Give her a whiff of fresh air with the bellows, Charley.
b. transf. and fig. A ‘breath’, ‘blast’, ‘burst’.
1644Milton Areop. 24 That the whiffe of every new pamphlet should stagger them out of thir catechism. 1649― Eikon. xxvii. 222 Deny'd and repuls'd by the single whiffe of a negative. 1766Sterne Tr. Shandy IX. ii, A whiff of military pride had puffed out his shirt at the wrist. 1817Byron Beppo liii, They had their little differences, too; Those jealous whiffs, which never any change meant. 1851G. Brimley Ess., Wordsw. (1858) 174 The Quarterly Review..issued a mild whiff of qualified approval. 1878Hardy Ret. Native v. ix, There seemed to be not a whiff of life left in either of the bodies. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. xx, This little whiff of temper seemed to cool Silver down. 1912Times Lit. Suppl. 13 June 241/1 Factories..brought with them the first whiff of cotton-spinning democracy.
c. A slight attack, ‘touch’; = waff n. 3 b.
1837Carlyle New Lett. (1904) I. 58, I have twice had flying whiffs of cold.
d. U.S. slang. A miss, a failure to hit (a ball).
1952N.Y. Herald Tribune 15 May 21/6 On the first tee he took a careful stance and then fanned the air four times. After the fourth whiff he growled, ‘This is the hardest course I ever played.’
2. a. An inhalation of tobacco-smoke; smoke so inhaled; in early use also, † the ‘taking’ of tobacco, smoking (to take the whiff, to smoke).
1599B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. Dram. pers., His chiefe exercises are taking the Whiffe, squiring a Cocatrice, and making priuy searches for Imparters. Ibid. iii. i, Sog...Doe you professe these sleights in Tabacco?.. Punt. But you cannot bring him to the Whiffe so soon? 1600Marston, etc. Jack Drums Entert. i. (1601) B 3, Iust like a whiffe of Tabacco, no sooner in at the mouth, but out at the nose. 1603–37Breton Poste with Packet Lett. Wks. (Grosart) II. 35/2 Tobacco is like to grow a great commoditie, for there is not an Ostler nor a Tapster, but will be at his whiffe or two. 1607T. Walkington Optic Glass ix. 54 Tobacco..must needs be very pernicious in regard of the immoderate & too ordinary whiffe. 1690J. Stevens Jrnl. (1912) 139 Seven or eight will gather to the smoking of a pipe and each taking two or three whiffs gives it to his neighbour. a1718Prior Epigr., Frank carves very ill, Four Pipes after Dinner he constantly smokes; And seasons his Whifs with impertinent Jokes. 1742Fielding J. Andrews iv. xvi, Gaffer Andrews..complained bitterly that he wanted his pipe, not having had a whiff that morning. 1812Heyne Tracts on India (1814) 392 The Malays..roll a little tobacco in a small piece of plantain leaf,..and after it is lighted, take only a few whifs, and throw the rest away. 1841Dickens Barn. Rudge i, He had taken his pipe from his lips, after a very long whiff to keep it alight. 1886G. R. Sims Ring o' Bells Prol. 1 He took a couple of whiffs at his long churchwarden.
†b. A sip or draught of liquor. Obs.
1605Tryall Chev. iii. i. E j b, I had but a whiffe or two; for I was passing dry. 1624Bp. Hall True Peacemaker Wks. (1625) 539 In beds of lust, chests of Mammon, whiffes and draughts of intoxication. 1653Urquhart Rabelais i. vi. 31, I will yet go drink one whiffe more [orig. encores quelque veguade].
3. a. A wave or waft of (usually unsavoury) odour.
1668R. L'Estrange Vis. Quev. (1708) 137 The Poysonous Whiffs she sends from her Toes and Arm-Pits. 1731Swift Strephon & Chloe 12 No noisom Whiffs or sweaty Streams..Could from her taintless body flow. 1774Burke Sp. Amer. Tax. Wks. 1842 I. 172 To whom a single whiff of incense withheld gave much greater pain, than he received delight in the clouds of it. 1784Cowper Task iv. 469 A whiff Of stale debauch. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. v, That whiff of russia leather, too, and all those rows on rows of volumes, neatly ranged within. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xiii. 182 A whiff of honeysuckle was borne to us as we passed. 1884Mrs. C. Praed Zero i, Is not the very name Monte Carlo like a whiff of some intoxicating draught?
b. fig. Flavour, savour.
1872Morley Voltaire vii. 321 Apologising for some whiffs of orthodoxy which Voltaire scented. 1895Rashdall Univ. Eur. II. 514 note, There is a whiff of the Renaissance about the very words of the Statute.
4. a. A puff of smoke or vapour, esp. of tobacco-smoke.
1714Addison Spect. No. 568 ⁋1, I lighted it at a little wax candle..and, after having thrown in two or three whiffs among them, sat down. 1752Lady's Curiosity 10 He..knocks you down with a whiff, or a f—, if you ask for an argument. 1839Longfellow Wreck of Hesperus 19 The skipper he blew a whiff from his pipe. 1875Howells Foregone Conclus. vii, The..heaven, in whose vast blue depths hung light whiffs of pinkish cloud.
b. transf. A cigarette or small cigar.
1881Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 60 Cheroot Maker... Whiff Maker. 1896Daily News 9 Mar. 5/4 The popular form of these daintily-got-up cigarettes is a ‘whiff’ of about two inches in length.
5. a. A puffing or whistling sound, as of a puff or gust of wind through a small opening; a short or gentle whistle; hence freq. = whew (also as int.).
1712Arbuthnot John Bull iv. i, Nic...pull'd out a Boat⁓swain's Whistle; upon the first Whiff, the Tradesmen came jumping into the Room. 1828Lytton Pelham xxxii[i], Sir Willoughby..made..no other reply than a long whiff, and a ‘Well, Russelton, dash my wig..but you're a queer fellow.’ 1847Tennyson Princess Concl. 58 But yonder, whiff! there comes a sudden heat. 1854R. S. Surtees Handley Cr. ix, Now we read the ‘Hercules’ on the engine, and anon it pulls up with a whiff, a puff, and a whistle. 1869Lowell Cathedral 74 Sunshine, whose quick charm..wiled the bluebird to his whiff of song. 1876J. S. Bristowe Theory & Pract. Med. (1878) 387 A like whiff or blowing sound follows each sonorous expiratory shock of cough.
b. A discharge of shot or explosive.
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. vii. vii, Six years ago, this Whiff of Grapeshot was promised. 1870Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. Feb. 90 He might clear the gangway for the boarders with a ‘whiff’ of this terrible projectile [i.e. grape-shot]. 1915‘Ian Hay’ First Hundred Thou. ii. xviii. 251 A whiff o' shrapnel.
6. in a whiff: in a short time, in a jiffy. dial.
1800M. Edgeworth Parent's Assistant (ed. 3) VI. 158 Lean on my arm, madam, and we'll have you in and at home in a whiff. 1825Brockett N.C. Gloss. s.v., In a whiff, in a short time. 1888Lippincott's Mag. Apr. 454 All this passed through his mind in a whiff.
II.
7. A flag hoisted as a signal.
Cf. waff n. 1 b, waft n.1 6, waif n.2 2, weffe, whiffler2 3, whift n. 2.
1693R. Lyde Retaking Ship 20, I took a Sash from one of them,..and put it out for a Whiff. 1832Marryat N. Forster xlviii, The stranger..hoisted a whiff, half-mast down.
III. 8. A light kind of outrigged boat for one sculler, used on the Thames.
1859Guardian 13 Apr. 331/1 The accidental upsetting of a pleasure-boat, called a ‘whiff’, on the river Cherwell. 1875H. R. Robertson Life Upper Thames 209 A funny is an open, out-rigged sculling-boat, having stem and stern alike, the keel falling away in a sloping curve from either end. A whiff resembles a funny in every point, except that the stern is upright, and not sloped away as the bows are. 1880Daily News 2 Mar. 5/1 Every Etonian who has passed an examination in swimming may boat..in skiffs or whiffs, gigs and outriggers. 1910Encycl. Brit. IV. 100/1 Whiff. Length. 20′ to 23′. Beam. 1′ 4{pp} to 1′ 6{pp}... Whiff Gigs. 19′ to 20′. 2′ 8{pp} to 2′ 10{pp}.
▪ II. whiff, n.2
[? Same word as prec.]
A name for various flat-fishes or flounders, as the sail-fluke or mary-sole, Rhombus megastoma, the smear-dab, Pleuronectes microcephalus.
1713Jago in Ray's Synopsis Piscium 163 Passer Cornubiensis asper, magno oris hiatu. A Whiff. 1836Yarrell Brit. Fishes II. 251 The Whiff. The Carter, Cornwall. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Whiff, the Rhombus cardina, a passable fish of the pleuronect genus. 1873T. Gill Catal. Fishes E. Coast N. Amer. 17 Citharichthys microstomus... Whiff.
▪ III. whiff, v.1
[f. whiff n.1]
1. a. intr. To blow with a whiff or slight blast; to move with or make the sound of this. Chiefly in vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. ii. 545 When through their green boughs whiffing winds do whirl With wanton puffs their waving locks to curl. 1608Ibid. ii. iv. Schism 620 A sudden whirl-winde, with a whiffing Fire. Ibid., Decay 652 The whiffing flashes of this Sword so quick. 1645Z. Boyd Holy Songs in Zion's Flowers (1855) App. 12/2 Their head on neck could not abide, off chop't with whiffing steele. 1851W. H. Walshe Dis. Lungs 93 The character of the murmurs is hollow, whiffing, and moderately metallic. 1866J. Macgregor Rob Roy on Baltic x, The whiffing of the strong wings of the wild goose. 1890Daily News 12 Dec. 3/1 A raw and biting breeze whiffing about his grey hairs.
b. trans. To utter with a whiff or puff of air.
1765Sterne Tr. Shandy VIII. xxvi, Then whiffing out a sentimental heigh ho! 1889‘Mark Twain’ Yankee Crt. K. Arth. xxvi, They crossed themselves, and whiffed out a protective prayer or two.
2. a. trans. To drive or carry by or as by a whiff; to puff or blow away, etc.
1601W. Percy Cuckqueanes & Cuck. Err. i. ii. (Roxb.) 11, I take him by the sleeue,..bid him looke to himself, Then round as a Jugler's boxe, whiffe his vpper vestment, and away. Ibid. i. iii. 16 Neither keene knife, nor yet Thumbe, May whiff him by slit or by numbe. 1615Sylvester Job Triumph. ii. 395 How oft, as Straw before the winde, are They, And as the Chaff with Tempest whift away? 1620B. Jonson News from New World Wks. (1641) 42 The smoake took him and whift him up into the Moone. 1657A. Farindon Serm. v. 108 That joy which is..raised as a Meteor out of dung and is whiffed up and down by every wind and breath. 1812W. Tennant Anster F. ii. xii, John Frost..Whiff'd off the clouds that the pure blue conceal'd. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. v. ii, And then his ‘sincere attachment’, how was it scornfully whiffed aside! Ibid. vi, A rabble to be whiffed with grapeshot. 1916Blackw. Mag. Jan. 59/1 Troops would not always remain in the open to be whiffed out of existence by shrapnel.
b. intr. To move with or as with a puff of air.
1686Goad Celest. Bodies i. xvi. 105 The Index hath whiffed round all the points of the Compass. 1889Stevenson Master of Ballantrae ii, I have sought to stay myself..against what looked to be a solid trunk, and the whole thing has whiffed away at my touch like a sheet of paper.
3. a. trans. To puff out tobacco-smoke from a pipe, etc.; hence, to smoke. (With the smoke or the pipe, etc. as object.) Also fig.
1616R. C. Times' Whistle v. 2218 Every..skip-iacke now will have his pipe of smoke, And whiff it bravely till hee's like to choke. 1617R. Brathwait Sol. Jov. Disput. etc. 171 These smokers of our Age; they whiffe me [Time] out in fume. 1628Mad Pranks Robin Goodf. (Percy Soc.) 34 She whift her pipe, she drunke her can. 1646Quarles Judgem. & Mercy Medit. 16 What pleasure tak'st thou in that breath, which draws and whiffs perpetuall fears? 1756M. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. (Maitland Cl.) 166 He put his pipe in the cheek next him, and whifed it in his face. 1859Meredith R. Feverel xxii, Richard..found him furtively whiffing tobacco. 1867Good Cheer 7 These formal toasts.. having been all drunk, the men whiffed their pipes.
b. absol. or intr.
1602Dekker Satirom. C 4 b, Morrow, Captaine Tucca, will you whiffe this morning? 1639Junius Sin Stigmatized 269 They are bound..to be powring in at their mouths, or whiffing out at their noses. 1713Tyldesley Diary (1873) 88, I found honest Tho. Barton very harty and ffree, but the 2 Wadsworths only whiffed. 1714tr. Joutel's Jrnl. Voy. Mexico (1719) 148 Then they made us all smoke round, and every one of them whiff'd in his Turn. 1862H. A. Kennedy Waifs & Strays 205 Luxuriously whiffing away at my after-breakfast cheroot.
†4. trans. To imbibe, drink (liquor). Also fig.
1609Dekker Gull's Horn-bk. iv. 18 Hee..that would striue to fashion his legges to his silke stockins, and his proud gate to his broad garters, let him whiffe downe these obseruations. 1650Trapp Comm. Num. vi. 20 The most generous wine in Lovain and Paris, is known by the name of vinum theologicum: the divines (those Sorbonists) do so whiffe it off. a1693Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xvii. 141 She whiffed off a..good Draught.
5. a. To inhale, sniff; also intr. to smell, sniff.
1635Quarles Embl. iv. vii. (1718) 213 Let us both retire, And whiff the dainties of the fragrant field. 1646― Sheph. Oracles x. Wks. (Grosart) III. 231/1 Which like a Sun in this our Orbe, Whiffes up the Belgick fumes. 1854R. S. Surtees Handley Cr. lviii, The pack..now whiffing with curious nose round the hollies, and now trying up the rides. Mod. (slang), What a horrid smell! Can't you whiff it?
b. intr. To emit an unpleasant odour. slang.
1899Kipling Stalky iii. 79 Then she'll whiff. Golly, how she'll whiff!
6. U.S. slang.
a. intr. Of a batter in Baseball or a golfer: to miss the ball. Cf. fan v. 8 b.
1913Wells Fargo Messenger I. 93/2 When he has to line 'er out he does, but he doesn't whiff at random. 1926Amer. Speech I. 369/2 He [sc. a baseball player] ‘whiffs’ when he fails to hit. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §677/34 Miss the ball,..whiff.
b. trans. = fan v. 8 a.
1914R. Lardner in Sat. Even. Post 7 Mar. 7/2, I whiffed eight men in five innings in Frisco yesterday. 1941Nebraska State Jrnl. 20 June (heading), Hurler whiffs 20. 1951in Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 575/1 Vic Raschi whiffed twelve batters in gaining his 15th win of the year.
Hence ˈwhiffing vbl. n.1 (also attrib.) and ppl. a.; also ˈwhiffer, one who whiffs.
1591–1866 [see sense 1]. c1614Tobacco-whiffer [see tobacco 3]. 1632Lithgow Trav. x. 435 The Alehouse is their Church.., their singing of Psalmes the whiffing of Tobacco. 1811Sporting Mag. XXXVIII. 191 Opening his tobacco-box, soon commenced his whiffing operation.
▪ IV. whiff, v.2 Angling.
[Perhaps same as prec.]
intr. To angle for mackerel, etc. from a swiftly moving boat with a hand-line towing the bait near the surface. Hence ˈwhiffing vbl. n.2 (also attrib.).
1836Yarrell Brit. Fishes II. 172 Hand-line fishing for Pollacks is called whiffing. 1863Johns Home Walks 164 We generally threw out our whiffing lines as we cruised about. 1886Globe 22 July 3/1 When you ‘whiff’ at Scilly, you whiff for pollack. |