5. To praise with exaggeration; to flatter; to call public attention to
by praises; to praise unduly. " Puffed with wonderful skill." Macaulay.
Puff, a. Puffed up; vain. [R.] Fanshawe.
Puff"ball` (?), n. (Bot.) A kind of ball-shaped fungus (Lycoperdon
giganteum, and other species of the same genus) full of dustlike spores
when ripe; -- called also bullfist, bullfice, puckfist, puff, and
puffin.
Puff"er (?), n. 1. One who puffs; one who praises with noisy or
extravagant commendation.
2. One who is employed by the owner or seller of goods sold at suction
to bid up the price; a by-bidder. Bouvier.
3. (Zoˆl.) (a) Any plectognath fish which inflates its body, as the
species of Tetrodon and Diodon; -- called also blower, puff-fish,
swellfish, and globefish. (b) The common, or harbor, porpoise.