The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Puff \Puff\, n. [Akin to G. & Sw. puff a blow, Dan. puf, D. pof;
   of imitative origin. Cf. Buffet.]
   1. A sudden and single emission of breath from the mouth;
      hence, any sudden or short blast of wind; a slight gust; a
      whiff. " To every puff of wind a slave." --Flatman.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Anything light and filled with air. Specifically:
      (a) A puffball.
      (b) kind of light pastry.
      (c) A utensil of the toilet for dusting the skin or hair
          with powder.
          [1913 Webster]

   3. An exaggerated or empty expression of praise, especially
      one in a public journal.
      [1913 Webster]

   Puff adder. (Zool.)
      (a) Any South African viper belonging to Clotho and
          allied genera. They are exceedingly venomous, and have
          the power of greatly distending their bodies when
          irritated. The common puff adder (Vipera arietans,
          or Clotho arietans) is the largest species, becoming
          over four feet long. The plumed puff adder (Clotho
          cornuta) has a plumelike appendage over each eye.
      (b) A North American harmless snake (Heterodon
          platyrrhinos) which has the power of puffing up its
          body. Called also hog-nose snake, flathead,
          spreading adder, and blowing adder.

   Puff bird (Zool.), any bird of the genus Bucco, or family
      Bucconid[ae]. They are small birds, usually with
      dull-colored and loose plumage, and have twelve tail
      feathers. See Barbet
      (b) .
          [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Puff \Puff\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Puffed (p[u^]ft); p. pr. &
   vb. n. Puffing.] [Akin to G. puffen to pop, buffet, puff,
   D. poffen to pop, puffen to blow, Sw. puffa to push, to cuff,
   Dan. puffe to pop, thump. See Puff, n.]
   1. To blow in puffs, or with short and sudden whiffs.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To blow, as an expression of scorn; -- with at.
      [1913 Webster]

            It is really to defy Heaven to puff at damnation.
                                                  --South.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To breathe quick and hard, or with puffs, as after violent
      exertion.
      [1913 Webster]

            The ass comes back again, puffing and blowing, from
            the chase.                            --L' Estrange.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated. --Boyle.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner;
      hence, to assume importance.
      [1913 Webster]

            Then came brave Glory puffing by.     --Herbert.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Puff \Puff\, v. t.
   1. To drive with a puff, or with puffs.
      [1913 Webster]

            The clearing north will puff the clouds away.
                                                  --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously.
      [1913 Webster]

            I puff the prostitute away.           --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To cause to swell or dilate; to inflate; to ruffle with
      puffs; -- often with up; as, a bladder puffed with air.
      [1913 Webster]

            The sea puffed up with winds.         --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To inflate with pride, flattery, self-esteem, or the like;
      -- often with up.
      [1913 Webster]

            Puffed up with military success.      --Jowett
                                                  (Thucyd. )
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To praise with exaggeration; to flatter; to call public
      attention to by praises; to praise unduly. " Puffed with
      wonderful skill." --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Puff \Puff\, a.
   Puffed up; vain. [R.] --Fanshawe.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Puffball \Puff"ball`\, n. (Bot.)
   A kind of ball-shaped fungus (Lycoperdon giganteum, and
   other species of the same genus) full of dustlike spores when
   ripe; -- called also bullfist, bullfice, puckfist,
   puff, and puffin.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

puff
    adj 1: gathered for protruding fullness; "puff sleeves" [syn:
           puff, puffed]
    n 1: a short light gust of air [syn: puff, puff of air,
         whiff]
    2: a light inflated pastry or puff shell
    3: exaggerated praise (as for promotional purposes)
    4: bedding made of two layers of cloth filled with stuffing and
       stitched together [syn: quilt, comforter, comfort,
       puff]
    5: a soft spherical object made from fluffy fibers; for applying
       powder to the skin [syn: powderpuff, puff]
    6: thick cushion used as a seat [syn: ottoman, pouf,
       pouffe, puff, hassock]
    7: a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke); "he took a puff on
       his pipe"; "he took a drag on his cigarette and expelled the
       smoke slowly" [syn: puff, drag, pull]
    8: forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth; "he gave his
       nose a loud blow"; "he blew out all the candles with a single
       puff" [syn: blow, puff]
    v 1: smoke and exhale strongly; "puff a cigar"; "whiff a pipe"
         [syn: puff, whiff]
    2: suck in or take (air); "draw a deep breath"; "draw on a
       cigarette" [syn: puff, drag, draw]
    3: breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted; "The runners
       reached the finish line, panting heavily" [syn: pant,
       puff, gasp, heave]
    4: make proud or conceited; "The sudden fame puffed her ego"
    5: praise extravagantly; "The critics puffed up this Broadway
       production" [syn: puff, puff up]
    6: speak in a blustering or scornful manner; "A puffing kind of
       man"
    7: to swell or cause to enlarge, "Her faced puffed up from the
       drugs"; "puffed out chests" [syn: puff, puff up, blow
       up, puff out]
    8: blow hard and loudly; "he huffed and puffed as he made his
       way up the mountain" [syn: puff, huff, chuff]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

449 Moby Thesaurus words for "puff":
   Aqua-Lung, Danish pastry, French pastry, PR, acknowledgment,
   add to, adulate, advertise, advertisement, advocate, aggrandize,
   amplify, apotheosize, appreciation, artificial respiration,
   aspiration, asthmatic wheeze, augment, back, baklava, balloon,
   ballyhoo, bark, base, belaud, bepraise, bill, blast, bless, blintz,
   bloat, bloatedness, bloating, blow, blow a hurricane,
   blow great guns, blow over, blow up, blowing up, blubber, blurb,
   bluster, boast, boast of, boost, brag, brag about, break down,
   breakers, breath, breath of air, breathe, breathe hard, breathe in,
   breathe out, breathing, breeze, breeze up, brew, bright light,
   broaden, broken wind, build, build up, buildup, bulk, bulk out,
   bulletin, burlesque, burn out, butter, capful of wind, caricature,
   carry too far, celebrate, celebrity, chain-smoke, chaw, chew,
   chewing, chocolate eclair, circularize, clay, clown white,
   cock-a-doodle-doo, cold cream, collapse, collar, come up,
   comfortable, comforter, commend, commendation, common knowledge,
   compact, cosmetics, cough, crack up, cream puff, crescendo, crow,
   cry, cry up, currency, cushion, daylight, deify, develop, diastole,
   dilatation, dilate, dilation, distend, distension, dough, dowdy,
   down, drag, draught, draw, draw the longbow, droop, drop, dropsy,
   drugstore complexion, eclair, eclat, edema, eiderdown, emblazon,
   emit, enlarge, establish, eulogize, evacuate, exaggerate, exalt,
   exhalation, exhale, exhaust, expand, expel, expiration, expire,
   exposure, exsufflation, extend, extol, eye shadow, eyebrow pencil,
   faint, fame, famousness, fatigue, feather bed, feathers, flag,
   flatter, flatulence, flatulency, flatus, fleece, floss, flourish,
   flue, fluff, foam, foundation, foundation cream, freshen, froth,
   fume, gasconade, gasp, gassiness, gather, get tired,
   give a write-up, give off, give out, give publicity, give vent to,
   glare, glorify, go to extremes, good word, greasepaint, grow weary,
   gulp, gust, habitual smoking, hack, hand cream, hand lotion, head,
   heave, hero-worship, hiccup, hike, hike up, honorable mention,
   hoopla, hue and cry, huff, huff and puff, hype, hyperbolize,
   idolize, increase, inflate, inflation, inhalation, inhalator,
   inhale, inhale snuff, inspiration, inspire, insufflation,
   intumescence, iron lung, item, jade, kapok, lather, laud,
   laudation, lay it on, let out, limelight, lionize, lip rouge,
   lipstick, magnify, make much of, makeup, mascara,
   maximum dissemination, mention, meringue, meteorism, mousse, mouth,
   mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, mudpack, nail polish,
   nicotine addiction, nicotinism, notice, notoriety, offscum,
   open the floodgates, open the sluices, overcharge, overdo,
   overdraw, overestimate, overpraise, overreach, overreact, oversell,
   overspeak, overstate, overstress, oxygen mask, oxygen tent, paint,
   pandowdy, panegyrize, pant, pastry, pasty, patisserie, patty,
   patty-shell, pay tribute, peter out, pie, pile it on, pillow,
   pipe up, placard, play out, plug, plush, poop out, porter aux nues,
   post, post bills, post up, powder, powder puff, praise, prate,
   press notice, press-agent, promote, promotion, public eye,
   public knowledge, public relations, public report, publicity,
   publicity story, publicize, publicness, pudding, puff and blow,
   puff of air, puff of wind, puff up, puffery, puffiness, puffing,
   pull, pump, pump up, push, putty, quiche, rage, raise, rarefy,
   reclame, recognition, recommend, reek, report, respiration,
   respire, review, rodomontade, rosette, rouge, rubber, run down,
   run out, salute, satin, scuba, scud, scum, sea foam, sell, set in,
   sigh, silk, sink, smoke, smoking, smoking habit, sneeze, sniff,
   sniffle, snore, snoring, snort, snuff, snuffle, soapsuds, souffle,
   speak for Buncombe, speak highly of, speak warmly of,
   speak well of, spiel, spindrift, spoondrift, spotlight, spray,
   spume, squall, steam, sternutation, stertor, stinging, stir of air,
   storm, stretch, stretch the truth, stretching, strudel, succumb,
   suck, suds, sufflate, support, surf, suspiration, swagger,
   swansdown, swell, swell out, swellage, swelling, swollenness,
   tabacism, tabacosis, tabagism, take snuff, talcum, talcum powder,
   talk big, talk in superlatives, tart, thistledown, throw off,
   timbale, tipsy cake, tire, tobaccoism, tout, travesty, trifle,
   trumpet, tumefaction, tumescence, tumidity, tumidness, turgescence,
   turgidity, turgidness, turnover, tympanism, tympany, up,
   vanishing cream, vanity case, vapor, vaunt, velvet, vol-au-vent,
   waft, war paint, wax, weary, wheeze, whiff, whiffet, whiffle,
   white water, widen, wilt, wind, windiness, wool, word, write up,
   write-up, zephyr



The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

puff
 vt.

    To decompress data that has been crunched by Huffman coding. At least one
    widely distributed Huffman decoder program was actually named ?PUFF?, but
    these days it is usually packaged with the encoder. Oppose huff, see 
    inflate.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

puff

    To decompress data that has been crunched by
   Huffman coding.  At least one widely distributed Huffman
   decoder program was actually *named* "PUFF", but these days it
   is usually packaged with the encoder.

   Opposite: huff.

   [Jargon File]

   (1996-10-16)