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Drag vs Puff - What's the difference?

drag | puff | Synonyms |

Puff is a synonym of drag.



In intransitive terms the difference between drag and puff

is that drag is to move slowly while puff is to pant.

In uncountable terms the difference between drag and puff

is that drag is resistance of the air (or some other fluid) to something moving through it while puff is the ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself.

In countable terms the difference between drag and puff

is that drag is the scent-path left by dragging a fox, for training hounds to follow scents while puff is a light cake filled with cream, cream cheese, etc.

In uncountable slang terms the difference between drag and puff

is that drag is any type of clothing or costume associated with a particular occupation or subculture while puff is the drug cannabis.

drag

English

(wikipedia drag)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) . More at (l).

Verb

  • To pull along a surface or through a medium, sometimes with difficulty.
  • To move slowly.
  • To act or proceed slowly or without enthusiasm; to be reluctant.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= James R. Carter
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Flowers and Ribbons of Ice , passage=Dragging yourself out of a warm bed in the early hours of a wintry morning to go for a hike in the woods: It’s not an easy thing for some to do, but the visual treasures that await could be well worth the effort. If the weather conditions and the local flora are just right, you might come across fleeting, delicate frozen formations sprouting from certain plant stems, literally a garden of ice.}}
  • To move onward heavily, laboriously, or slowly; to advance with weary effort; to go on lingeringly.
  • * Byron
  • The day drags through, though storms keep out the sun.
  • * Gay
  • Long, open panegyric drags at best.
  • To draw along (something burdensome); hence, to pass in pain or with difficulty.
  • * Dryden
  • have dragged a lingering life
  • To serve as a clog or hindrance; to hold back.
  • * Russell
  • A propeller is said to drag when the sails urge the vessel faster than the revolutions of the screw can propel her.
  • (computing) To move (an item) on the computer display by means of a mouse or other input device.
  • To inadvertently rub or scrape on a surface.
  • To perform as a drag queen or drag king.
  • (soccer) To hit or kick off target.
  • * November 17 2012 , BBC Sport: Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham [http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20278355]
  • Arsenal were struggling for any sort of rhythm and Aaron Lennon dragged an effort inches wide as Tottenham pressed for a second.
  • To fish with a dragnet.
  • To break (land) by drawing a drag or harrow over it; to harrow.
  • (figurative) To search exhaustively, as if with a dragnet.
  • * Tennyson
  • while I dragged my brains for such a song
    Derived terms
    * drag one's feet * dragline * what the cat dragged in

    Noun

  • (uncountable) Resistance of the air (or some other fluid) to something moving through it.
  • When designing cars, manufacturers have to take drag into consideration.
  • (countable, foundry) The bottom part of a sand casting mold.
  • (countable) A device dragged along the bottom of a body of water in search of something, e.g. a dead body, or in fishing.
  • (countable, informal) A puff on a cigarette or joint.
  • (countable, slang) Someone or something that is annoying or frustrating; an obstacle to progress or enjoyment.
  • Travelling to work in the rush hour is a real drag .
  • * J. D. Forbes
  • My lectures were only a pleasure to me, and no drag .
  • (countable, slang) Someone or something that is disappointing.
  • (countable, slang) Horse-drawn wagon or buggy.
  • (Thackeray)
  • (countable, slang) Street, as in 'main drag'.
  • (countable) The scent-path left by dragging a fox, for training hounds to follow scents.
  • to run a drag
  • (countable, snooker) A large amount of backspin on the cue ball, causing the cue ball to slow down.
  • A heavy harrow for breaking up ground.
  • A kind of sledge for conveying heavy objects; also, a kind of low car or handcart.
  • a stone drag
  • (metallurgy) The bottom part of a flask or mould, the upper part being the cope.
  • (masonry) A steel instrument for completing the dressing of soft stone.
  • (nautical) The difference between the speed of a screw steamer under sail and that of the screw when the ship outruns the screw; or between the propulsive effects of the different floats of a paddle wheel.
  • Anything towed in the water to retard a ship's progress, or to keep her head up to the wind; especially, a canvas bag with a hooped mouth (drag sail), so used.
  • A skid or shoe for retarding the motion of a carriage wheel.
  • Motion affected with slowness and difficulty, as if clogged.
  • * Hazlitt
  • Had a drag in his walk.
    Derived terms
    * drag race * main drag

    Etymology 2

    Possibly from (etyl) Douglas Harper, "camp (n.)" in Online Etymology Dictionary , 2001ff

    Noun

    (-)
  • (uncountable, slang) Women's clothing worn by men for the purpose of entertainment.
  • He performed in drag .
  • (uncountable, slang) Any type of clothing or costume associated with a particular occupation or subculture.
  • corporate drag
    Derived terms
    * drag king * drag queen * drag show

    References

    * Flight, 1913, p. 126] attributing to [[w:Archibald Low, Archibald Low] *

    puff

    English

    Noun

  • (countable) A sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth.
  • (uncountable) The ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself.
  • out of puff
  • (countable) A small quantity of gas or smoke in the air.
  • puff of smoke
  • * Flatman
  • to every puff of wind a slave
  • (informal, countable) An act of inhaling smoke from a cigarette, cigar or pipe.
  • (countable) A flamboyant or alluring statement about an object's quality.
  • (dated, slang) A puffer, one who is employed by the owner or seller of goods sold at auction to bid up the price; an act or scam of that type.
  • * 1842 , "A Paper on Puffing", in Ainsworth's Magazine
  • Is nothing to be said in praise of the "Emporiums" and "Repositories" and "Divans," which formerly were mere insignificant tailors', toymen's, and tobacconists' shops? Is the transition from the barber's pole to the revolving bust of the perruquier, nothing? — the leap from the bare counter-traversed shop to the carpeted and mirrored saloon of trade, nothing? Are they not, one and all, practical puffs , intended to invest commerce with elegance, and to throw a halo round extravagance?
  • * 1848 , Mrs. White, "Puffs and Puffing", in Sharpe's London Magazine
  • Here the duke is made the vehicle of the tailor's advertisement, and the prelusive compliments, ostensibly meant for his grace, merge into a covert recommendation of the coat. Several specimens might be given of this species of puff , which is to be met with in almost every paper, and is a favourite form with booksellers, professional men, &c.
  • * 2008 , David Paton-Williamspage, Katterfelto , page xii
  • He was the eighteenth century king of spin, or, in the language of the day, the "prince of puff ".
  • A puffball.
  • A powder puff.
  • (uncountable, slang) The drug cannabis.
  • (countable) A light cake filled with cream, cream cheese, etc.
  • cream puff
  • (derogatory, slang, British, particularly northern UK) a homosexual; a poof
  • (slang, dated, UK) life
  • * 1938 , P. G. Wodehouse (Bertie Wooster speaking of Spode) in The Code of the Woosters
  • Did you ever in your puff see such a perfect perisher?

    Synonyms

    * (sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth) * (ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself) wind * (small quantity of gas or smoke in the air) * drag * (cannabis) blow, dope, ganja, pot, weed; see also * (type of cake) pastry * (poof) See poof

    Derived terms

    * powder puff * puff pastry * puffer * puffery * puffing * puff piece

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To emit smoke, gas, etc., in puffs.
  • To pant.
  • * L'Estrange
  • The ass comes back again, puffing and blowing, from the chase.
  • * 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Chapter VI
  • Puffing and panting, we plodded on until within about a mile of the harbor we came upon a sight that brought us all up standing.
  • (archaic) To advertise.
  • To blow as an expression of scorn.
  • * South
  • It is really to defy Heaven to puff at damnation.
  • To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated.
  • (Boyle)
  • To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner; hence, to assume importance.
  • * Herbert
  • Then came brave Glory puffing by.
  • To drive with a puff, or with puffs.
  • * Dryden
  • The clearing north will puff the clouds away.
  • To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously.
  • * Dryden
  • I puff the prostitute away.
  • To cause to swell or dilate; to inflate.
  • a bladder puffed with air
  • * Shakespeare
  • the sea puffed up with winds
  • To inflate with pride, flattery, self-esteem, etc.; often with up .
  • * Jowett
  • puffed up with military success
  • To praise with exaggeration; to flatter; to call public attention to by praises; to praise unduly.
  • * Macaulay
  • puffed with wonderful skill

    Derived terms

    * puffed * puff up * puff out