huff and puff

phrase

1

: to breathe in a loud and heavy way because of physical effort

He was huffing and puffing when he got to the top of the stairs.

2

: to show one is annoyed or angry

She'll huff and puff for a while, but she'll calm down later.

Examples of huff and puff in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There was a lot of huff and puff, but not enough craft or subtlety to break through a five-man Copenhagen defence excellently marshalled by Japanese centre-back Junnosuke Suzuki. — Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2026

Slot’s side were left to huff and puff for the rest of the first half, unable to break down a resilient low block as the interval approached. — Andy Jones, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025

An astonished Lara asks them to move to the crew mess, which makes Wihan huff and puff in irritation. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025

The defeat on Saturday had some of the hallmarks of those performances — all the early huff and puff, with a chronic lack of end product — only with more downsides. — Patrick Boyland, The Athletic, 18 Aug. 2024

But every step along the way makes the views from the top worth every huff and puff of energy. — Estes Park Trail-Gazette, The Denver Post, 6 Aug. 2024

Walking into a drug store for a simple errand is enough to make Josh Welch huff and puff as if he’s just gone for a run. — Marin Wolf, Dallas News, 10 Mar. 2023

Rhymes for huff and puff

• buff
• cuff
• duff
• fluff
• gruff
• hough
• huff
• luff
• muff
• rough
• ruff
• scruff