Meaning & use
puffing
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Meanings
noununcountable
Breathing hard and fast, usually after exercise, with short audible breaths.
Grammar: Can also be the -ing form of puff.
Patterns
- puffing and panting
We heard his puffing long before he reached the top of the stairs.
Her puffing slowed after a minute's rest.
The puffing of the old runner filled the quiet track.
noununcountable
The sending out of small bursts of smoke, steam or air.
Grammar: Describes repeated small bursts.
Patterns
- the puffing of something
The puffing of the steam engine echoed across the valley.
Constant puffing on his pipe filled the room with smoke.
We watched the puffing of the chimney in the cold air.
noununcountablelegalbusiness
Exaggerated praise of a product that is not meant to be taken literally, as in advertising.
Grammar: A legal and business term, also called puffery.
Patterns
- mere puffing
Calling a burger the best in the world is just puffing.
Courts treat such puffing as opinion, not a promise.
The ad was dismissed as harmless puffing.
Common combinations
- puffing and panting
- They arrived at the top puffing and panting.
- puffing and blowing
- The movers were puffing and blowing on the stairs.
- puffing on a pipe
- Grandpa sat puffing on his pipe.
- mere puffing
- The claim was mere puffing and nobody took it seriously.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
Commonly confused: puffing or huffing?
puffing vs huffing
Huffing means breathing noisily, often in annoyance, while puffing suggests tiredness or small bursts.
Practice
After the steep climb, the hikers arrived ___ and panting.
Choose one answer.
Puffing and panting describes hard breathing after effort; the other participles describe other activities.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “puffing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.