phew, int. (v., n.)
(fjuː, fjʊ)
Also 7 (pheut), pfew, 8 phu, 9 phugh: see also pho, phoo
[Representing the action of puffing or blowing away with the lips.]
A vocal gesture expressing impatience, disgust, discomfort, or weariness.
| 1604 Marston & Webster Malcontent i. iv, Pheut, I'll not shrink. 1633 Ford Love's Sacr. iv. i, Phew, sir, do not stand upon that. 1727 Vanbr. & Cib. Journ. Lond. i. i, Phu! a fig for his money. 1856 G. H. Boker Poems (1857) II. 133 As for your share,—phew! 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt i, Phew-ew! Jermyn manages the estate badly, then. 1889 E. Dowson Let. 30 June (1967) 88, I think it is possible for the feminine nature to be reasonably candid & simplex, up to the age of 8 or 9. Afterwards—phugh! 1892 H. Hutchinson Fairw. Isl. 16 ‘Phugh! and isn't it hot?’ |
b. (nonce-uses) as v. intr. to utter the exclamation ‘phew!’; as n. an utterance of this.
| 1858 Farrar Eric ii. ii, Eric only ‘phewed’ again two or three times, and thought of Montagu. 1904 Ada Cambridge Sisters 70 Soon Rose heard sighs and phews, and sudden rustlings and slappings. |