What's the difference between blow and whiff?

Blow


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To flower; to blossom; to bloom.
  • (v. t.) To cause to blossom; to put forth (blossoms or flowers).
  • (n.) A blossom; a flower; also, a state of blossoming; a mass of blossoms.
  • (n.) A forcible stroke with the hand, fist, or some instrument, as a rod, a club, an ax, or a sword.
  • (n.) A sudden or forcible act or effort; an assault.
  • (n.) The infliction of evil; a sudden calamity; something which produces mental, physical, or financial suffering or loss (esp. when sudden); a buffet.
  • (v. i.) To produce a current of air; to move, as air, esp. to move rapidly or with power; as, the wind blows.
  • (v. i.) To send forth a forcible current of air, as from the mouth or from a pair of bellows.
  • (v. i.) To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
  • (v. i.) To sound on being blown into, as a trumpet.
  • (v. i.) To spout water, etc., from the blowholes, as a whale.
  • (v. i.) To be carried or moved by the wind; as, the dust blows in from the street.
  • (v. i.) To talk loudly; to boast; to storm.
  • (v. t.) To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means; as, to blow the fire.
  • (v. t.) To drive by a current air; to impel; as, the tempest blew the ship ashore.
  • (v. t.) To cause air to pass through by the action of the mouth, or otherwise; to cause to sound, as a wind instrument; as, to blow a trumpet; to blow an organ.
  • (v. t.) To clear of contents by forcing air through; as, to blow an egg; to blow one's nose.
  • (v. t.) To burst, shatter, or destroy by an explosion; -- usually with up, down, open, or similar adverb; as, to blow up a building.
  • (v. t.) To spread by report; to publish; to disclose.
  • (v. t.) To form by inflation; to swell by injecting air; as, to blow bubbles; to blow glass.
  • (v. t.) To inflate, as with pride; to puff up.
  • (v. t.) To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue; as, to blow a horse.
  • (v. t.) To deposit eggs or larvae upon, or in (meat, etc.).
  • (n.) A blowing, esp., a violent blowing of the wind; a gale; as, a heavy blow came on, and the ship put back to port.
  • (n.) The act of forcing air from the mouth, or through or from some instrument; as, to give a hard blow on a whistle or horn; to give the fire a blow with the bellows.
  • (n.) The spouting of a whale.
  • (n.) A single heat or operation of the Bessemer converter.
  • (n.) An egg, or a larva, deposited by a fly on or in flesh, or the act of depositing it.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Certainly, Saunders did not land a single blow that threatened to stop his opponent, although he took quite a few himself that threatened his titles in the final few rounds.
  • (2) The ruling centre-right coalition government of Angela Merkel was dealt a blow by voters in a critical regional election on Sunday after the centre-left opposition secured a wafer-thin victory, setting the scene for a tension-filled national election in the autumn when everything will be up for grabs.
  • (3) "The government should be doing all it can to put the UK at the forefront of this energy revolution not blowing hot and cold on the issue.
  • (4) Rapid swelling of the knee following a blow or twisting injury is considered a significant injury.
  • (5) Drainage of contrast medium from the maxillary sinus during blowing and sniffing was studied by cine-roentgenography in 11 healthy subjects.
  • (6) It would cost their own businesses hundreds of millions of pounds in transaction costs, it would blow a massive hole in their balance of payments, it would leave them having to pick up the entirety of UK debt.
  • (7) The phrase “self-inflicted blow” was one he used repeatedly, along with the word “glib” – applied to his Vote Leave opponents.
  • (8) Losing Murphy is a blow to the Oscars which has struggled to liven up its image amid a general decline in its TV ratings over the last couple of decades and a rush of awards shows that appeal to younger crowds, such as the MTV Movie Awards.
  • (9) Hagan’s defeat came as a shock and a heavy blow for the Democratic party in North Carolina, a purple state that now has no Democratic senator or governor for the first time in 30 years.
  • (10) The case of a 32-year-old man who suffered a blow to his left supraorbital region and eyebrow in an automatic closing door is reported to draw attention to the uncommon but trivial nature of this injury which may result in profound visual loss.
  • (11) It's almost starting to feel like we're back in the good old days of July 2005, when Paris lost out to London in the battle to stage the 2012 Olympic Games, a defeat immediately interpreted by France as a bitter blow to Gallic ideals of fair play and non-commercialism and yet another undeserved triumph for the underhand, free-market manoeuvrings of perfidious Albion.
  • (12) A rather pessimistic wind is blowing over cancer chemotherapy, while a not very objective enthusiasm for second generation immunotherapy is raising its head.
  • (13) The departure of Emmerson – who said in a statement that no allegations had been put to him – is a huge blow.
  • (14) On second impacts, the GSI rose considerably because the shell and liner of the DH-151 cracked and the suspension of the "141" stretched during the first blow.
  • (15) The files, which were made available to the Guardian , the New York Times and the German weekly Der Spiegel, give a blow-by-blow account of the fighting over the last six years, which has so far cost the lives of more than 320 British and more than 1,000 US troops.
  • (16) Maybe there was a wish to go for these stronger story formulations, more extreme situations to try to get the energy up to comfortably blow the lid off.” Miller pointed out to Franzen that he has developed something of a reputation as a misanthrope.
  • (17) Pure blow-out fracture or comminuted facial fracture, double vision and amnesia emerged as additional factors which yielded an efficient scoring system with a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 90% for the population upon which it was based.
  • (18) It would strike a blow against its excessively adversarial ways of working, the two sides of a divided house braying at each other across the floor.
  • (19) However, a no show from the leader of the Commonwealth's biggest member would be a huge blow to the credibility of the organisation.
  • (20) All of which would be perfectly normal (after all, if there's anything valencianos love more than blowing off their fingers, it's complaining about their team) but for one thing: it was only just after half past nine and there was still an hour to go against hated rivals Real Madrid.

Whiff


Definition:

  • (n.) A sudden expulsion of air from the mouth; a quick puff or slight gust, as of air or smoke.
  • (n.) A glimpse; a hasty view.
  • (n.) The marysole, or sail fluke.
  • (v. t.) To throw out in whiffs; to consume in whiffs; to puff.
  • (v. t.) To carry or convey by a whiff, or as by a whiff; to puff or blow away.
  • (v. i.) To emit whiffs, as of smoke; to puff.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It may have been like punk never ‘appened, but you caught a whiff of the movement’s scorched earth puritanism in the mocking disdain with which Smash Hits addressed rock-star hedonism.
  • (2) He is also characterised as "the devoted husband of a bestselling novelist with a few of her own ideas about how fiction works"; a funny sentence construction that carries a faint whiff of husband stoically bent over his books as wife keeps popping up with pesky theories about realism.
  • (3) Similar messages delivered by previous populist, independent candidates like Ralph Nader and Ross Perot didn’t catch on because there was always that whiff of ego that voters like me could smell, coupled with lack of experience in government.
  • (4) The local undertakers were pleased to discover the great Henty to be the man they had always imagined - a full-bearded giant, stern and wise, dressed like a warrior hero or - much the same thing - a Victorian gentleman with the whiff of gunpowder and the clash of sabres about him.
  • (5) The zesty, citrus whiff of oranges freshens up the January kitchen, drawing a line under heavy celebratory food, and lighting up the virtuous, but enticing path to a lighter, healthier diet.
  • (6) The presence of three of the following four criteria was necessary: 1) vaginal pH greater than 4.5; 2) clue cells on the saline wet mount; 3) thin, homogeneous-appearing discharge; or 4) positive potassium hydroxide "whiff test."
  • (7) If Gleeson could be the guest speaker, how then could it be described as a “Liberal party event?” Even if it was a party occasion, the commissioner asks: “how does that demonstrate that the speaker has an affinity with a partiality for or a persuasion or allegiance or alignment to the Liberal party or lent it support?” If the fair minded lay observer (FMLO), who in this instance is the judge of apprehended bias, had an idea of Heydon’s record on the high court they might get a whiff of partiality to a particular world view, or philosophy.
  • (8) Despite the success of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, there was a whiff of snobbery.
  • (9) Photograph: Jon Tonks for the Guardian During the three years leading up to the final vote, the Sheringham story had often given off a questionable whiff.
  • (10) Great for families, but not those families offended by whiffs of a special herb wafting across the lawn.
  • (11) Yet that entire grand bazaar of old summer chemistry is all blended to me now and I can pick out just one: the first whiff of autumn.
  • (12) Now's as good a time as any to put out this reminder: authorities are on high alert and investigating everything that has even a whiff of suspicion.
  • (13) Paul Doyle The generally positive spirit: most referees allowed robust contact and, in turn, most players did not throw themselves to the ground at the first whiff of contact.
  • (14) It has more than a whiff of the Portsmouths about it.
  • (15) Add to that the venerated reputation of its wine, and a whiff of bourgeois privilege and conservatism, and you expect a city of well-groomed, self-satisfied people.
  • (16) You might even find people who think there is more than a whiff of sexism apparent in the building, and the critiques.
  • (17) 3.56pm: This retweet from the RMT has a Soviet whiff about it: RT @lindapalermo @LDN @rmtlondon #DearRMT I understand why you've called strike action and wish you victory in your actions.
  • (18) Male sketchwriters and assorted Westminster aficionados either affected bemused indulgence on behalf of their slighted sisters or scented the whiff of political-correctness-gone-mad.
  • (19) The venue was deserted and, more annoyingly, it was situated down a lane, affording the audience a whiff of urine prior to entering the palace of doom that I'd paid £7,500 for the privilege of hiring.
  • (20) He said there was a whiff of revenge in the air – for the police inquiry into MPs' expenses and the unjustified arrest in 2008 of the Tory MP Damian Green over a series of leaks from the Home Office about immigration.