puffer

A puffer is often a pufferfish, a fish that blows itself up when it feels threatened. The word is also used for a padded winter jacket, an asthma inhaler that gives medicine in a puff, and sometimes a small steam locomotive that lets out little bursts of steam. It can also mean a person who pants or breathes hard. The idea behind all these uses is simple: something swells, blows out air, or gives off short puffs.

The word "puffer" refers to several things, all linked by the idea of puffing out, swelling up, or sending out short bursts of air or steam. Many people first think of the pufferfish, the fish that inflates its body when danger comes near. That image gives the word its clearest and most memorable meaning. The same idea appears in older mechanical uses too. A small steam locomotive could be called a "puffer" because it moved along with repeated little bursts of steam and a puffing sound.

In everyday modern English, the word is very common in two other ways. In health talk, especially in casual speech, a "puffer" can mean an asthma inhaler because it gives one puff of medicine at a time. In clothing, a "puffer jacket" is a thick, padded coat with a rounded, quilted look. The word can also describe a person who is puffing and panting after effort, though this use is less common. Depending on the context, a "puffer" might be a fish, a jacket, an inhaler, a small steam engine, or someone breathing hard, but the shared picture is almost always the same: air going in or out in visible, forceful little bursts.