puffer

plural puffers

1. Someone or something that puffs.
2. Any of several poisonous fish, of the family Tetraodontidae, which have the ability to inflate their bodies when in danger.
3. A manually-operated inhaler.

   For years he'd made relatively light of it, referring to the little inhaler he had to use as his ‘puffer’.

   1983, Bill Oddie, Gone Birding, London: Methuen, page 96

4. childishdatedA train; a locomotive, usually one that is steam-powered.
5. A Clyde puffer, a kind of small ship.
6. slangA car left idling to warm up, emitting steam from the rear.
7. fashionAn insulated puffy jacket, such as a down jacket.
8. datedA person who gives exaggerated praise to a product, literary work, etc.
9. datedslangOne who is employed by the owner or seller of goods sold at auction to bid up the price; a by-bidder.

   Cicero in his Offices declares his opinion , that a vendor ought not to appoint a puffer to raise the price

   1834, The Law Library

10. derogatoryAn alchemist; so named from their constant attendance to the bellows of their furnaces.
11. The common, or harbour, porpoise.
12. A kier used in dyeing.
13. artsA soffietta.
14. cellular automataA finite pattern that moves like a spaceship but leaves a trail of debris.

    The switch engine is unstable but a number of them working in combination can form stable puffers, spaceships and rakes.

    2015, Paul Rendell, Turing Machine Universality of the Game of Life, page 133

    2 more examples

    This is the next best thing, which is a pseudo-puffer made by converting a stream of spaceships into puffer output using several c/3 spaceships.

    1993 March 16, David Bell, “Life program (part 2/18)”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet)

    Might be interesting to see if the debris from this puffer can be suppressed somehow -- assuming somebody hasn't already done that, but I don't see any sign of previous attempts.

    2008 June 25, Dave Greene, “B37/S23 - A Chaotic Universe.”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet)

15. A security device used to detect traces of explosives or drugs on a person, by blowing puffs of air that pick up tiny particles.