▪ I. whift, n. Obs. exc. dial.
(hwɪft)
Also wift.
[var. of whiff n.1 with excrescent -t.]
1. A whiff or slight blast of wind, etc.; a snatch (of song).
| 1614 Gorges Lucan v. 202 So hauing said, the surging whifts The ship ten times together lifts. 1855 Browning Fra Lippo 52 A sweep of lute-strings, laughs, and whifts of song. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 16 June 2/1 A wift of white foam. |
2. A small signal flag. (Cf. whiff n.1 7.)
| 1644 True Narr. Seige Plymouth 5 Having..given a signe..by hanging out a Wift, that he was in distresse. 1839 Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale xii. 155 Two or three small flags, called ‘whifts’, which are inserted in the dead whale, in case the boats should leave it in chase of others. 1846 Young Naut. Dict. 359 Waft, Weft, or Whift, a signal (most frequently for a boat) made by hoisting a flag rolled up lengthways and bound together with a few stops. 1901 W. C. Russell Ship's Adv. vii, There's the barque that fouled us last night, sir. She's got a wift at her mizzen⁓peak. |
▪ II. † whift, a. Obs. rare.
[f. whiff v.1 (cf. sense 4) + -t = -ed2.]
Drunk, intoxicated.
| 1611 Cotgr., Entrebeu, halfe drunke, almost whift. |