puffing

5 definitions • 6 examples

present participle of

to breathe fast and with difficulty, usually because you have been exercising:

He came puffing up the stairs.

[ + speech ] "I ran all the way home," she puffed (= said while puffing).

to breathe fast and with difficulty, usually because you have been exercising

to smoke tobacco:

She was puffing on a cigarette at the time.

He sat there, puffing away at a cigarette.

to blow out in clouds, or make steam or smoke do this:

The engine puffed a huge cloud of steam, then rolled down the tracks.

The chimney was puffing out clouds of smoke.