What's the difference between glimpse and whiff?

Glimpse


Definition:

  • (n.) A sudden flash; transient luster.
  • (n.) A short, hurried view; a transitory or fragmentary perception; a quick sight.
  • (n.) A faint idea; an inkling.
  • (v. i.) to appear by glimpses; to catch glimpses.
  • (v. t.) To catch a glimpse of; to see by glimpses; to have a short or hurried view of.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) He has another brief glimpse of goal as a deep cross finds him stretching at the back post, but it was just that — a glimpse.
  • (2) Many elements of the set had been spun out of background glimpses from the film, references you'd only register after an unhealthy number of viewings.
  • (3) From Stranraer to Stornaway there is a fair chance every primary school child in the country will catch a glimpse of their heroine's gold medal at some stage, like it or not.
  • (4) She believes her explorations – of their vanities, their blindnesses, their cruelties, of the brief moments in which they attain goodness, or glimpse a kind of realistic, unselfish love – to be of urgent importance.
  • (5) OKCupid knows how likely you are to put out on the first date , the NSA knows you eat a lot of quinoa, and all 962 of your Facebook friends have caught a glimpse of you in an ill-advised bikini.
  • (6) December’s unprecedented fifth MLS Cup was the Galaxy’s third in four seasons, and despite the unedifying nature of the final itself – a 2-1 win over the New England Revolution – it did, in glimpses, illustrate some of the strengths of the team.
  • (7) As a result, we talk about the issues and get a glimpse of each other's perspectives, into the bargain.
  • (8) Carney arrived at Threadneedle Street by tube shortly before 7am, ahead of most camera crews and photographers hoping to catch a glimpse of the governor feted as the rock star of central banking.
  • (9) And now glimpse those two old foxes, Andreotti and Mitterrand, getting together at a hotel outside Maastricht on the evening before the December 1991 summit, to work out over dinner how they will pin Kohl down to a timetable for a monetary union that was clearly intended to bind a newly (and, for them, alarmingly) united Germany into a tighter European framework.
  • (10) In Chicago before a crowd both relieved and delighted, he spoke with a force, clarity and determination that had scarcely been glimpsed in the 2012 campaign.
  • (11) It was not just a fantastic sporting occasion but a glimpse of a more noble Britain: a country learning to be at ease with disability, and passionately, generously, committed to a vision of equality of opportunity.
  • (12) May 28, 2014 Other players have looked livelier tonight for sure, and he's taken one too many touches on occasion, but there was a glimpse of Altidore's value in his hold up play just now.
  • (13) This was a tantalising glimpse of the future, with Mata pulling the strings in the middle.
  • (14) As my sister continues to grow emotionally and socially, I get a glimpse of the confident young woman - perhaps even a fully functioning member of society - that I hope one day she will become.
  • (15) This English translation permits a rare glimpse into the early medical thinking on prostatic diseases.
  • (16) Quite literally, in the credit sequences of Father Knows Best and Beulah , sitcoms of middle-class family life where the fences – they didn't exist around most suburban houses – can be glimpsed.
  • (17) It is a finely-tuned sequence of level changes and alluring glimpses, more familiar to the world of shopping malls and airport terminals than a repository of knowledge.
  • (18) From the vantage point of my 10-centimetre porthole, I glimpsed life forms with outlines like blown glass occasionally drifting past our lights, while small crustaceans hovered around like flies, keeping pace with our descent.
  • (19) I was giving them a glimpse into my exclusive lifestyle.
  • (20) Comment boxes across the planet boiled over with fury at the first glimpse of John Boyega removing his helmet.

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.