wuffle

English

Noun

wuffle (plural wuffles)

1. A gentle sniff or snort
   • 1992, Lauraine Snelling, Kentucky Dreamer, Bethany House Publishers, →ISBN, page 37:

     Gray Dan'l begged for more—both carrots and loving. Even Gatesby acted glad to see her, a wuffle warming her fingers as he picked up his carrot.

   • 1996, Alison Kent, Call Me, Harlequin Books, →ISBN, page 157:

     Harley smiled at the dog's contented wuffle and sigh. "How long until Guin is up and around?"

   • 2003, S. M. Stirling, David Drake, Conqueror, Baen Books, →ISBN, page 58:

     "Ah, general," Bellamy said. Raj leaned back in the saddle and Horace halted with a resentful wuffle.

   • 2005, Barbara Cleverly, The Damascened Blade, Delta, →ISBN, page 77:

     Candles flickered under the doors of the first two rooms, occupied by Zeman and Iskander. The next room was in darkness and silent apart from a stricken wuffle.

   • 2009, Anne Louise MacDonald, Seeing Red, Kids Can Press, →ISBN, page 181:

     At the word "treats," Jelly Bean jerked up her head and a sub-woofer wuffle fluttered her nostrils.

Verb

wuffle (third-person singular simple present wuffles, present participle wuffling, simple past and past participle wuffled)

1. To sniff or snort gently.
   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 130:

     Nosing deeply over that opinion, he suddenly cocked an indignant leg, back scratched with vigour and made a wuffling sound in his whiskers about what would happen to that scoundrel if he came misusing our rocks again.

   • 1942, “BB”, in The Litte Grey Men, Eyre & Spottiswoode:

     The black muzzle went 'wuffle, wuffle' over the sand and the man saw the short hairs bristle along its spine. Then the dog was called off and Giant Grum went up the bank.

   • 1995, Colin Greenland, Seasons of Plenty, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 247:

     After their first upset the children's dog kept a dignified distance from him; and when in the narrow passages the cat strayed too close, he would wuffle irritably, like an old Scotsman clearing his throat.

   • 2001, Harry Turtledove, The Great War: Breakthroughs, Del Ray, →ISBN, page 138:

     "Ma'am, we are doing what we can," Barksdale repeated stolidly. He took a deep breath, then let it wuffle out through his thick gray mustache.

   • 2004, Wendy Jane Evans, The Diggings Are Silent, Interactive Press, →ISBN, page 77:

     Beyond was a tangle of undergrowth fringing a pocket of rainforest. It seemed a place where a dog could wuffle to his heart's content.

   • 2009, Christopher J. Wortham, Fragments… From Two Lives on Three Continents, Eloquent Books, →ISBN, page 18:

     I could stand with my hands resting on the upper rail of the playpen and reach out to touch Rufus, the red setter, whose principal concern was evidently to entertain me. He would wuffle and snuggle from just outside, wagging his feathery tail in appreciation of his tiny young friend's attentions.