chuff

chuff

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃʌf/

• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ʌf
• Homophone: chough

Etymology 1

15th century, dialectal, from Middle English chuffe, in noun sense “stupid fellow”.[1][2] Adjective sense “surly, displeased” from 1832.[2]

Adjective

chuff (comparative more chuff, superlative most chuff)

1. (Britain) Surly; annoyed; displeased; disgruntled.
   • 1872, Edward Spencer, “A Slight Toothache”, in The Southern Magazine, volume 11, page 86:

     He refused to subscribe, he who had always given so largely to the cause; he was chuff, haughty, overbearing, and seemed bent upon antagonising every prominent suggestion that was made.

   • 1875, Patrick Kennedy ·, The Banks of the Boro: A Chronicle of the County of Wexford, page 106:

     So I set out in the clear cold night, and began to think that great lords and ladies are not at all as well off as poor people thinks, with so much fine meat and drink wasted about them, and they having no wish for them; for I felt very chuff and uncomfortable, and was glad that I could not be in the same way again for six weeks and more to come.

   • 2020, L.T Meade, A Very Naughty Girl, page 39:

     "I am afraid of Lady Frances. And Miss Audrey can be very rude. She was very chuff with me on New Year's Day.” “She won't be chuff with you in my presence,” said Evelyn.

   • 2020, George Manville Fenn, Sail Ho!, page 242:

     Well, I didn't mean with my eyes, Neb; so don't be so chuff on a fellow.

2. (UK, dialect) stupid; churlish; loutish.
   • 1728, Francis Gentleman, A Trip to the Moon, page 196:

     such chuff Fellows , who would not willingly allow their Children any Pleasures

   • 1831, The Spouter's Album:

     Says Paddy , “the old one, faith, looks very chuff, though, But loves that big blackguard, I mean Lundy snuff, though;

   • 1878 January 24, “The Song of Big Ben”, in Truth, volume 3, page 114:

     The chuff old Joe to vex has come, The Doctor—who but he?—Parnell, and all the Irish scum, Have noisy vowed to be.

   • 1978, James Woodforde, ‎John Beresford, editor, The Diary of a Country Parson, 1758-1802, page 387:

     Neville Custance is a very chuff Boy indeed as I ever saw, seem displeased & cross with every thing - would not eat a bit of Cake when brought to him.

Synonyms

• (surly): chuffy

Adverb

chuff (comparative more chuff, superlative most chuff)

1. In a chuff manner.
   • 1842, John Labern, J. Labern's Original Comic Songs, (for 1842,), page 18:

     Macbeth when he talk'd very chuff About fighting -- how soon he got floor'd With a yard of cold steel by Macduff, And mine was that Wonderful Sword.

   • 1893, Theobald Wolfe Tone, ‎Richard Barry O'Brien, The Autobiography of Theobald Wolfe Tone. 1763-1798;, page 30:

     I was therefore obliged, sore against my will, to apply again to Carnot, who spoke very chuff about the trouble I gave him to write a second memorandum.

   • 2016, Andrew Prentice, ‎Jonathan Weil, Devil's Blood:

     'I know I spoke chuff, aye, but – she wouldn't listen. She'll never agree ...'

Noun

chuff (plural chuffs)

1. A coarse or stupid fellow.
   • a. 1597, Shakespeare, William, Henry IV, Part 1, Act 2, Scene 2:

     Hang ye, gorbellied knaves, are ye undone? / No, ye fat chuffs, I would your store were here!

Translations

a coarse or stupid fellow

Bulgarian: грубиян (bg) (grubijan) French: glandu (fr) m, mou du bulbe (fr) m German: ungehobelter Kerl m, Flegel (de) m Hungarian: goromba pokróc/fráter Russian: мужла́н (ru) m (mužlán), грубия́н (ru) m (grubiján)

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic. Compare chug and puff.

Verb

chuff (third-person singular simple present chuffs, present participle chuffing, simple past and past participle chuffed)

1. (intransitive) To make noisy puffing sounds, as of a steam locomotive.
   • 1912, Katherine Mansfield, "The Woman At The Store", Selected Short Stories

     The horses stumbled along, coughing and chuffing.

   • 1928, D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover

     […] and the small lit up train that chuffed past in the cutting made it seem like real night.

   • 1990, John Updike, Rabbit at Rest:

     The pigeons chuff and chortle off in indignant disappointment.

   • 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42:

     Far less straightforward was what happened at about 0130 on Friday June 2 1944, as a long goods train was chuffing and clanking its unhurried way across the darkened landscape towards Soham, from Ely.

2. (Britain, slang) To break wind.
3. Of a powder, propellant, or explosive charge: to become extinguished and reignited intermittently.
   • 1967 Leo Allen Lukenas: The ignition transient in small solid propellant rocket motors. Princeton University

     Double base propellants often require ignition pressures of as much as 400 psia to avoid the problem of chuffing or hangfires.

   • 1992, Luigi De Luca & Martin Summerfield, Nonsteady Burning and Combustion Stability of Solid Propellants, →ISBN:

     The original work of Huffington on chuffing and oscillatory burning of cordite goes back to the beginning of the 1950s.

   • 1999, William G. Reinecke, Ballistics 18th International Symposium, →ISBN, page 357:

     Chuffing followed by full recovery to normal functioning (Figure 3)

   • 2014, V. I. Feodosiev & G. B. Siniarev, Introduction to Rocket Technology, →ISBN, page 145:

     The pressure at which chuffing occurs depends on the powder composition and on the temperature of the charge. The lowering of the initial charge temperature facilitates chuffing.

Translations

to make noisy puffing sounds

Bulgarian: пуфкам (pufkam), пуфтя (puftja) German: schnaufen (de) Hungarian: pöfög (hu)

Noun

chuff (countable and uncountable, plural chuffs)

1. (scriptwriting, uncountable) Superfluous small talk that is free of conflict, offers no character development, description or insight, and does not advance the story or plot.
2. A noisy puffing sound.
   • 2010, Don Gayton, Okanagan Odyssey: Journeys Through Terrain, Terroir and Culture, page 82:

     Then the brass bell on top of the boiler rings out and a single massive chuff! of steam issues from the bowels of the loco. Then another chuff! – a blast of steam – another chuff! and the huge drive shafts tighten against the wheels.

3. A breathy noise produced by a tiger, similar in function to a cat's purr.

Etymology 3

1520s, in sense “swollen with fat”; circa 1860, British dialect, in sense “pleased”.[2] Possibly related to “coarse, stupid, fat-headed” sense (see etymology 1 above). Or, perhaps a euphemistic alteration of fuck or another expletive.[3]

Adjective

chuff (comparative more chuff, superlative most chuff)

1. (Britain) Pleased, proud.
2. (obsolete) Swollen with fat.
3. (vulgar slang, of cheeks) Swollen.

Synonyms

• (swollen): chuffy

Derived terms

• (pleased): chuffed

Noun

chuff (plural chuffs)

1. (vulgar slang) The vagina
2. (vulgar slang) The anus

   The car behind was following too close — it was right up my chuff.

Derived terms

• gnat's chuff
• the chuff

References

1. Samuel Johnson (15 April 1755), “CHUFF”, in A Dictionary of the English Language: […] In Two Volumes, volume I (A–K), London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul] Knapton; […], OCLC 1637325, column 2.
2. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “chuff”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
3. Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

Further reading

• “chuff” at The Septic’s Companion: A British Slang Dictionary