whoof

English

Interjection

whoof

  1. The sound of a dog barking.
  2. The sound of a steam train, steam boat, etc.
    • 1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 5:
      Whoof! whoof! its steaming breath hissed at her.

Noun

whoof (plural whoofs)

  1. Alternative spelling of woof.
    • 1918, James Oliver Curwood, The Grizzly King‎[1]:
      Thor rose from beside the rock with a prodigious whoof that roused Muskwa.
    • 1920, James Stephens, Irish Fairy Tales‎[2]:
      A little whoof, like the sound that would be made by a baby and it asleep, came from Cona'n.

Verb

whoof (third-person singular simple present whoofs, present participle whoofing, simple past and past participle whoofed)

  1. (intransitive) To make sound like a dog's bark; to bark.
    • 1961, Xavier Herbert, Soldiers' Women, Netley, SA: Fontana Books, published 1978, page 291:
      It was quite an expedition that Ida met, a kind of elfin's rout it looked in the moonlight, children and animals and a fairy-like presence with a face like a moon-lily, all scampering and squealing and whoofing and miauling in a merry game they were making of their progress.
  2. (intransitive) To make a snuffling noise, like a bear vocalising, or a steam engine puffing.
    • 1980, Stephen King, Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game:
      He kicked Leo in the ribs to wake him up. Leo grunted and whoofed.
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