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whiff (wĭf, hwĭf)
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n.
1.
a. A brief, passing odor carried in the air: a whiff of perfume.
b. A very small trace: a whiff of self-pity in her remarks.
2. An inhalation, as of air or smoke: Take a whiff of this pipe.
3. A slight, gentle gust of air; a waft: A whiff of cool air blew into the room.
4. Baseball A strikeout.
v. whiffed, whiff·ing, whiffs
v.intr.
1. To be carried in brief gusts; waft: puffs of smoke whiffing from the chimney.
2. Sports To swing at and miss a ball or puck.
3. Baseball To strike out. Used of a batter.
v.tr.
1. To inhale through the nose; sniff: a dog whiffing the air.
2. Baseball To strike out (a batter).
[Perhaps alteration of Middle English weffe, offensive smell.]
whiffer n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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