| 释义 |
huff and puff huff and puff1. To struggle or exert oneself physically. We huffed and puffed, but we did finally manage to get the couch up the steps.2. To breathe very heavily or laboriously. Running to catch the bus has left me huffing and puffing. You really should quit smoking—look at how you're huffing and puffing after a single flight of stairs!3. To make an exaggerated show of one's anger, often by making empty threats. A: "Are we in trouble?" B: "No, just let him huff and puff until he's done—he'll forget all about it by tomorrow."See also: and, huff, puffhuff and puffFig. to breathe very hard; to pant as one exerts effort. John came up the stairs huffing and puffing. He huffed and puffed and finally got up the steep hill.See also: and, huff, puffhuff and puffMake noisy, empty threats; bluster. For example, You can huff and puff about storm warnings all you like, but we'll believe it when we see it . This expression uses two words of 16th-century origin, huff, meaning "to emit puffs of breath in anger," and puff, meaning "to blow in short gusts," and figuratively, "to inflate" or "make conceited." They were combined in the familiar nursery tale, "The Three Little Pigs," where the wicked wolf warns, "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down"; rhyme has helped these idioms survive. See also: and, huff, puffhuff and puff 1 breathe heavily with exhaustion. 2 express your annoyance in an obvious or threatening way.See also: and, huff, puffˌhuff and ˈpuff
1 breathe heavily while making a great physical effort: They huffed and puffed as they carried the sofa upstairs.
2 make it obvious that you are annoyed about something without doing anything to change the situation: After much huffing and puffing, he agreed to help.See also: and, huff, puff |