LekhoriLekhoriA brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air; a waft.
Purrus at Pryam driues, but all in rage, / Strikes vvide, but vvith the vvhiffe and vvinde / Of his fell ſvvord, th'unnerued father falles.
A short inhalation or exhalation of breath, especially when accompanied by smoke from a cigarette or pipe.
Sog[liardo]. […] [D]oe you profeſſe theſe ſleights in Tabacco? / […] / Shift. Yes as ſoone ſir; he ſhall receiue the 1, 2, and 3 VVhiffe, if it pleaſe him, & (vpon the receit) take his horſe, drinke his three cups of Canarie, and expoſe one at Hounſlovv, a ſecond at Stanes, and a third at Bagſhot.
An odour (usually unpleasant) carried briefly through the air.
And then, ſo nice, and ſo genteel; / Such Cleanlineſs from Head to Heel: / No Humours groſs, or frowzy Steams, / No noiſom Whiffs, or ſweaty Streams, / Before, behind, above, below, / Could from her taintleſs Body flow.
To carry or convey (something) by, or as by, a whiff or puff of air; to blow, puff, or waft away.
There are in all but three vvayes of going thither [to the moon]. […] [The] third, Old Empedocles vvay; vvho vvhen he leaped into Ætna, having a drie ſeare bodie, and light, the ſmoake took him and vvhift him up into the Moone, vvhere he lives yet vvaving up and dovvne like a feather, all foot and embers comming out of that cole-pit; our Poet met him, and talkt vvith him.
Having a strong or unpleasant odour.
[F]rom under a pile of stones [they] drew forth the new-slain corpse of a cat. […] 'Well-nourished old lady, ain't she?' said Stalky. 'How long d'you suppose it'll take her to get a bit whiff in a confined space?' / 'Bit whiff! What a coarse brute you are!' said M'Turk. 'Can't a poor pussy-cat get under King's dormitory floor to die without your pursuin' her with your foul innuendoes?'
Used to indicate a sound like that of air passing through a small opening, that is, a short or soft whistle.
Sir Willoughby, […] made to this extraordinary remonstrance no other reply than a long whiff, and a "Well, Russelton, dash my wig (a favourite oath of Sir W.'s) but you're a queer fellow."
The noun is possibly: * partly a variant of Middle English wef, weffe (“bad smell, stench, stink; exhalation; vapour; tendency of something to go bad (?)”) [and other forms], possibly a variant of eit...
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To say (something) with an exhalation of breath.
[H]e ſat ſolitary and penſive vvith his pipe—looking at his lame leg—then vvhiffing out a ſentimental heigh ho! vvhich mixing vvith the ſmoak, incommoded no one mortal.
To inhale or exhale (smoke from tobacco, etc.) from a cigarette, pipe, or other smoking implement; to smoke (a cigarette, pipe, etc.); to puff.
VVhat pleaſure tak'ſt thou in that breath, vvhich dravvs & vvhiffs perpetuall fears?