puffs (up)

verb

present tense third-person singular of puff (up)
as in blows up

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for puffs (up)
  1. blows up
  2. increases
  3. rolls up
  4. builds up
  5. rises
  6. inflates
  7. mushrooms
  8. proliferates
Verb
  • Trinity's safe world blows up when reports surface that something is killing both demons and Wardens.
    — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The movie blows up, and so are do lives—in exciting, but also terrifying, ways.
    — Katie Wiseman, IndyStar, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of blows up
Verb
  • Treating these as separate challenges increases cost and complexity over time.
    — Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
  • As the bleak second law of thermodynamics states, entropy always increases over time in a closed system.
    — Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of increases
Verb
  • Morning Consult rolls up its poll results over a three-month period to calculate the state approval rating.
    — Kinsey Crowley, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
  • And so the world’s least qualified transportation team rolls up to Sheridan’s parents’ mansion in Mark’s beat-up red sedan, completely unprepared for the ride of their lives.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of rolls up
Verb
  • Long exposes how secrecy builds up when even doctors don’t have the language to identify one’s pain.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Eventually that carbon will begin to fuse into neon, then the neon will fuse into magnesium, and so on up the periodic table until iron builds up in the core.
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of builds up
Verb
  • Pay that rises with credentials, a clear schedule and predictable work can do more for retention than a signing bonus.
    — Alok Chanani, Forbes.com, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Step up to the more powerful rear-drive model and output rises to 282 hp, with a larger 77-kWh battery.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of rises
Verb
  • Patients lose out because the administrative bloat inflates the cost of medical care, while making costs less transparent and harder to contest.
    — Leah Pierson, STAT, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Statik’s TireHero Wireless Air Pump quickly inflates car tires, bikes, scooters and more.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of inflates
Verb
  • Sauté morel mushrooms about five minutes or until golden brown and crispy.
    — Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Feb. 2026
  • The investigation mushrooms Bock, the Feeding Our Future founder whom prosecutors called the mastermind of the fraud, was found guilty in March 2025.
    — David Ingram, NBC news, 11 Jan. 2026
Definition of mushrooms
Verb
  • For the wine fans, there are multitudes of cellar doors showcasing the brilliant Shiraz and Grenache that proliferates here--the product of ancient limestone soil, as well as some of the oldest continually-producing grape vines in the world.
    — Brad Japhe, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
  • Every day that this virus proliferates increases the risk to American lives.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 22 June 2026
Definition of proliferates
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

puffs
puffs (up)
puff (up)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Puffs (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puffs%20%28up%29. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All