piffle


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pif·fle

 (pĭf′əl)
intr.v. pif·fled, pif·fling, pif·fles
To talk or act feebly or futilely.
n.
Foolish or futile talk or ideas; nonsense.

[Origin unknown.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

piffle

(ˈpɪfəl)
n
nonsense: to talk piffle.
vb
(intr) to talk or behave feebly
[C19: origin uncertain]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pif•fle

(ˈpɪf əl)

n., v. -fled, -fling. Informal. n.
1. nonsense, as idle talk or trivial writing.
v.i.
2. to talk or behave in a nonsensical way.
[1840–50; perhaps akin to puff]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

piffle


Past participle: piffled
Gerund: piffling

Imperative
piffle
piffle
Present
I piffle
you piffle
he/she/it piffles
we piffle
you piffle
they piffle
Preterite
I piffled
you piffled
he/she/it piffled
we piffled
you piffled
they piffled
Present Continuous
I am piffling
you are piffling
he/she/it is piffling
we are piffling
you are piffling
they are piffling
Present Perfect
I have piffled
you have piffled
he/she/it has piffled
we have piffled
you have piffled
they have piffled
Past Continuous
I was piffling
you were piffling
he/she/it was piffling
we were piffling
you were piffling
they were piffling
Past Perfect
I had piffled
you had piffled
he/she/it had piffled
we had piffled
you had piffled
they had piffled
Future
I will piffle
you will piffle
he/she/it will piffle
we will piffle
you will piffle
they will piffle
Future Perfect
I will have piffled
you will have piffled
he/she/it will have piffled
we will have piffled
you will have piffled
they will have piffled
Future Continuous
I will be piffling
you will be piffling
he/she/it will be piffling
we will be piffling
you will be piffling
they will be piffling
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been piffling
you have been piffling
he/she/it has been piffling
we have been piffling
you have been piffling
they have been piffling
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been piffling
you will have been piffling
he/she/it will have been piffling
we will have been piffling
you will have been piffling
they will have been piffling
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been piffling
you had been piffling
he/she/it had been piffling
we had been piffling
you had been piffling
they had been piffling
Conditional
I would piffle
you would piffle
he/she/it would piffle
we would piffle
you would piffle
they would piffle
Past Conditional
I would have piffled
you would have piffled
he/she/it would have piffled
we would have piffled
you would have piffled
they would have piffled
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.piffle - trivial nonsense
hokum, meaninglessness, nonsense, nonsensicality, bunk - a message that seems to convey no meaning
Verb1.piffle - speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantlypiffle - speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
mouth, speak, talk, verbalise, verbalize, utter - express in speech; "She talks a lot of nonsense"; "This depressed patient does not verbalize"
blather, blether, blither, smatter, babble - to talk foolishly; "The two women babbled and crooned at the baby"
2.piffle - act in a trivial or ineffective way
behave, act, do - behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself; "You should act like an adult"; "Don't behave like a fool"; "What makes her do this way?"; "The dog acts ferocious, but he is really afraid of people"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

piffle

noun (Informal) nonsense, rubbish, garbage (informal), hot air (informal), balls (taboo slang), bull (slang), shit (taboo slang), pants (informal), rot, crap (slang), trash, bunk (informal), bullshit (taboo slang), tosh (slang, chiefly Brit.), bollocks (Brit. taboo slang), pap, cobblers (Brit. taboo slang), bilge (informal), drivel, twaddle, tripe (informal), guff (slang), moonshine, hogwash, hokum (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), bunkum (chiefly U.S.), codswallop (Brit. slang), poppycock (informal), balderdash, bosh (informal), eyewash (informal), hooey (slang), tommyrot, horsefeathers (U.S. slang), tarradiddle He talks such a load of piffle.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

piffle

noun
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

piffle

[ˈpɪfl] Ntonterías fpl, paparruchas fpl
piffle!¡tonterías!, ¡bobadas!
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

piffle

n (inf)Quatsch m (inf), → Schnickschnack m (inf)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

piffle

[ˈpɪfl] n (Brit) (old) (fam) → sciocchezze fpl
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
"Your talk is piffle. Hanna is after money and nothing else.
What a load of piffle. He is a Geordie through and through.
A once great, adversarial voice, 'The Voice' as everyone called it, had been reduced by successive corporate masters to the kind of generic post-grad piffle that deserves the name 'content.' It wasn't good for much other than swaddling injured pigeons these last few years but at one time it was really something and how many publications can say that?
They must all be spinning in their graves at this politically correct piffle.
What piffle. The beauty of English football - and indeed any league pyramid - is that teams such as Norwich City and Swansea City can battle their way up the divisions to deservedly take their place alongside the big guns on the strength of talent, not solely their bank balance.
Scottsdale, AZ, September 16, 2011 --(PR.com)-- SpinIsland LLC, (http://www.spinisland.com) a mobile app publisher, announces the release of Piffle Connect app for iPhone and iPad users.
Shadow international development secretary Diane Abbott denied she was being lined up to replace Mr Benn, branding the rumours "poppycock and piffle".
This kind of turf war between passion and reason, intellect and intimacy, is old hat for director Fred Schepisi, who plowed similar ground to sparkling effect in films like "Roxanne" and "Six Degrees of Separation" (even the Albert Einstein piffle "I.Q.").
BBC2'S It's Kevin (Eldon's) parody of Benedict Cumberbatch rattling off deductions as Sherlock Holmes, saying: "Piffle...
Talk about Britain being "all alone, outside the commerce of Europe" is piffle. David Cameron wants to play the tortoise until he feels that the public have magically watered down their drive to leave Europe.
People now live their life like an open wound and they are rewarded for it" Comic actor Ricky Gervais "If global warming meant temperatures rose by one or two degrees, France would become a desert - which would be no bad thing"Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary "She does have a sense of humour, but she is a bit of a cold fish" The BBC's former royal correspondent Jennie Bond on the Queen "This flimsy wad of piffle, this stapled spiel of Cameroonish baloney" The Government's "vote to remain in the EU" leaflet as described by political commentator Quentin Letts
"This flimsy wad of piffle, this stapled spiel of Cameroonish baloney" - The Government's "vote to remain in the EU" leaflet as described by political commentator Quentin Letts.