1 : to breathe in a loud and heavy way because of physical effort He was huffing and puffing when he got to the top of the stairs. 2 : to show one is annoyed or angry She'll huff and puff for a while, but she'll calm down later.

Is huff and puff an idiom?

This expression uses two words of 16th-century origin, huff, meaning "to emit puffs of breath in anger," and puff, meaning "to blow in short gusts," and figuratively, "to inflate" or "make conceited." They were combined in the familiar nursery tale, "The Three Little Pigs," where the wicked wolf warns, "I'll huff and I ...

Why do we huff and puff?

During the first quarter hour of running the fuel source is glycogen. This is the stored form of carbohydrate which produces a high amount of waste product when burned. As it builds up, we will huff and puff more because we're creating an "oxygen debt". ... It also helps to slow the pace of the running segments at first.