Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "chuff" []

  • A rude, insensitive person; a boor. (noun)
  • To produce or move with noisy puffing or explosive sounds: "Switch engines chuffed impatiently in busy rail yards” ( Robert Paul Jordan). (verb-intransitive)
  • A noisy puffing or explosive sound, such as one made by a locomotive. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "chuff" in a sentence
  • "Big cats have their own repertoire of sounds e.g. the rumbled greeting of lionesses and the distinctive "chuff" of tigers."
  • "The engine starts with grumpy whine and wet chuff, and then falls into a sullen idle."
  • "Draught horses are led around the smaller ring, and nearby dozens of stationary engines chuff, splutter and bounce on individual pitches."