puffing (up)

verb

present participle of puff (up)
as in rolling up

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for puffing (up)
  1. rolling up
  2. blowing up
  3. building up
  4. increasing
Verb
  • Garcia said Lindsey continued to refuse multiple verbal orders and police body camera video shows Lindsey rolling up his windows, trying to take off his seatbelt before opening the door.
    — Briauna Brown, CBS News, 30 July 2026
  • Private equity has been rolling up local HVAC, plumbing and electrical businesses, stitching together fragmented operators into regional platforms.
    — Renana Ashkenazi, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026
Definition of rolling up
Verb
  • But more than that, the mill blowing up just couldn’t be possible.
    — Ethan Brooks, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026
  • After flying for about an hour halfway around the world, the upper-stage portion of the Starship vehicle managed to land intact in the Indian Ocean – without blowing up.
    — Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 29 July 2026
Definition of blowing up
Verb
  • Government reshuffle Ahead of the next winter period, Ukraine is strengthening the defense of its energy infrastructure and building up reserves to ensure sufficient supplies of heat and electricity.
    — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 3 Aug. 2026
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies start right after birth with three to five minutes at a time, building up to more than an hour a day.
    — Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 23 July 2026
Definition of building up
Verb
  • Instead, pick three to five movements that match your fitness level and focus on performing each with good form before increasing the difficulty.
    — RikkiLynn Shields Hannigan, Health, 29 July 2026
  • Across much of the world, increasing longevity combined with decades of declining birth rates is fundamentally changing the composition of the labor force.
    — Sheila Callaham, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of increasing
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

puffing
puffing (up)
puffs
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Puffing (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puffing%20%28up%29. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All