chuff

1 of 3

noun (1)

: boor, churl

chuff

2 of 3

verb

chuffed; chuffing; chuffs

intransitive verb

: to produce noisy exhaust or exhalations : proceed or operate with chuffs
the chuffing and snorting of switch enginesPaul Gallico

chuff

3 of 3

noun (2)

: the sound of noisy exhaust or exhalations

Examples of chuff in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Found in the far northeast of Japan on the island of Hokkaido, the Fuyu-no-Shitsugen train chuffs through this national park with retro style in the winter months. John Walton, CNN, 10 Apr. 2023 At engineer Chuck Wolf's signal, air from each car's reservoir instantly begins pounding into the cylinder in a cacophony of clangs and chuffs. IEEE Spectrum, 3 Dec. 2022 The vault's stone hull juts like a shipwreck in the drifted ice while polar bears chuff and lumber past the door. Brittney Corrigan, Scientific American, 19 May 2022
Verb
The railroad rolls out all five of its Shay steam locomotives, tooting their whistles, chuffing black coal smoke, and fuming chutes of white steam through its piston valves and exhaust ports. Mark Orwoll, Travel + Leisure, 5 Oct. 2023 As for the artist himself, he was chuffed to have worked on the famous model. Julia Moore, Peoplemag, 28 Sep. 2023 The beasts are the muscle machines, the workaday haulers chuffing to and fro with the takings of forests and mines, fields and factories. Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2023 While shareholders may be chuffed by that news, the slumping economy, surging interest rates and a credit crunch may mean US firms come to regret reducing their cash buffers. Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 28 June 2023 On the long list of people kept in the dark about her photos is close friend Snoop Dogg, whom Stewart thinks will be chuffed. Hedy Phillips, Peoplemag, 15 May 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chuff.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English chuffe

Verb

imitative

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1914, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1915, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of chuff was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near chuff

Cite this Entry

“Chuff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chuff. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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