From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsniffsniff1 /snɪf/ ●●○ verb 1 [intransitive]BREATHE to breathe air into your nose noisily, for example when you are crying or have a cold Margaret sniffed miserably and nodded. Stop sniffing and blow your nose.2 [intransitive, transitive]SMELL to breathe air in through your nose in order to smell something He opened the milk and sniffed it.sniff at The dog was sniffing at the carpet.3 [transitive]SAY to say something in a way that shows you think something is not good enough ‘Is that all?’ she sniffed.4 [transitive]MDD to take a harmful drug by breathing it up your nose → snort kids who sniff glue → sniff at something → sniff something ↔ out→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
sniff• "I'm sorry I got so upset, '' she sniffed.• "It looks overcooked, " she sniffed.• She sniffed a few times and stopped crying.• The dog raised its nose in the air, sniffed, and then started to follow the scent.• I could hear him sniff as he went before me.• It sniffed at the ground and stood, dejected, motionless.• The dog was rushing around excitedly, sniffing at the ground.• For a moment he sniffed at the roots.• Some youngsters who sniff have accidents while they are intoxicated and some suffer damage to their health.• Otto looked around quickly to make sure no one was looking and then sniffed his armpits.• He sniffed his hand again, then shook his head.• Stop sniffing! Use your handkerchief.• The number of youngsters sniffing varies from place to place and at different times.• Varney sniffed, wiped his nose with his hand and backed his other foot into the water.sniff at• Rex, the dog, was sniffing at the carpet.sniffsniff2 noun [countable] 1 BREATHESMELLwhen you breathe in air noisily through your nose, for example in order to smell something, because you have a cold, or in order to show your disapproval a sniff of disapproval She gave a loud sniff.2 British English informal a small amount or sign of something SYN hintsniff of He got us into this mess, and then left at the first sniff of trouble!3 → have a sniff around/round4 → not get a sniff of somethingExamples from the Corpus
sniff• His mother gave a sniff and asked if he had been smoking in his bedroom.• Stamford have given me a list of local McCloys and there again not a sniff as far as they know.• Ed leaned forwards and took a sniff.• She took a sniff of those leather seats, and that was it, she was in there, feeling them up.• She turned back to her companions with a sniff.• Filmer could go in and out of the Westin without a sniff of fresh air, and probably had.• A sniff of tea, a whiff of biscuits, and there would soon be a crowd.• A dab with a handkerchief and an early morning sniff was my subterfuge.Origin sniff1 (1300-1400) From the sound 