Definition & Meaning of "whiff"

to whiff

VERB

to detect a faint scent by inhaling through the nose

Transitive: to whiff a faint scent

Example

She whiffs the scent of flowers in her garden every morning.

Right now, I am whiffing the fragrance of a delicious meal cooking in the kitchen.

to utter something with a quick exhale of breath

Transitive: to whiff a remark

to exhale the smoke from a cigarette, pipe, or other smoking device

Transitive: to whiff a smoke

Example

He stepped outside to whiff a cigarette.

Despite his efforts to quit, he still occasionally whiffed a cigarette.

(in sports) to swing and miss while attempting to hit a ball

Intransitive: to whiff at a ball

Example

Despite his best efforts, he whiffed at the baseball pitch and struck out.

With a powerful swing, he whiffed at the tennis ball, narrowly missing it.

to carry something by or as if by a sudden puff or gust of air

Transitive: to whiff a scent or smell somewhere

Example

The breeze whiffed the scent of freshly baked bread from the bakery across the street.

As she opened the window, it whiffed the fragrance of blooming flowers into the room.

Whiff

NOUN

a short light gust of air

a swing and miss by the batter, where the bat fails to make contact with the ball

What is a "whiff"?

A whiff in baseball or softball refers to when a batter swings at a pitch but misses the ball entirely. It is often used to describe a swing that does not make contact, leaving the batter with no chance to hit the ball. A whiff counts as a strike, and if the batter misses three times, they are out. It can also be used informally to describe a particularly bad or embarrassing miss. A whiff is common when a batter faces a difficult pitch or is fooled by the pitcher’s speed or movement.

Example

He swung hard but had a whiff on the high fastball.

The batter 's whiff on the curveball gave the pitcher an advantage.

a lefteye flounder found in coastal waters from New England to Brazil