whoof

1. The sound of a dog barking.
2. The sound of a steam train, steam boat, etc.

   Whoof! whoof! its steaming breath hissed at her.

   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

plural whoofs

1. alternativeAlternative spelling of woof.

   Thor rose from beside the rock with a prodigious whoof that roused Muskwa.

   1918, James Oliver Curwood, The Grizzly King

   1 more example

   A little whoof, like the sound that would be made by a baby and it asleep, came from Cona'n.

   1920, James Stephens, Irish Fairy Tales

present singular third person whoofs · participle present whoofing · participle past whoofed · past whoofed

1. intransitiveTo make sound like a dog's bark; to bark.

   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.

   1961, Xavier Herbert, Soldiers' Women, Netley, SA: Fontana Books, published 1978, page 291

2. intransitiveTo make a snuffling noise, like a bear vocalising, or a steam engine puffing.

   He kicked Leo in the ribs to wake him up. Leo grunted and whoofed.

   1980, Stephen King, Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game