huff
part of speech
verb (huff, huffs, huffed, huffing); noun (a huff)
meaning for a pupil
1) To breathe out loudly and heavily, often because you are tired or annoyed. tree →
2) (noun, informal) A bad mood, usually after being offended: «in a huff». tree →
3) (informal) «Huff and puff»: to breathe hard, or to complain and make a fuss without doing much. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories «he left in a huff» tells the reader a character went off sulking. In «The Three Little Pigs» the wolf says «I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down». Phrases: in a huff, go off in a huff, huff and puff.
examples
- She went off in a huff because she lost the game. tree →
- The wolf huffed and puffed and blew the house down. tree →
- He was huffing and puffing by the top of the hill. tree →
- Don't get in a huff; it was only a joke. tree →
- Grandpa huffed and turned back to his newspaper. tree →
- My little sister is in a huff because she can't stay up late. tree →
- So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew his house in, and ate up the little pig. tree →
note
Adjective: huffy (easily offended or sulky). «In a huff» is informal. Similar: sulk, strop (UK).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «huff» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.