skip vs whiff

skip

noun
  • A passage from one sound to another by more than a degree at once. 

  • A large open-topped container for waste, designed to be lifted onto the back of a truck to remove it along with its contents. (see also skep). 

  • A college servant. 

  • A skip car. 

  • The player who calls the shots and traditionally throws the last two rocks. 

  • An Australian of Anglo-Celtic descent. 

  • A leaping, jumping or skipping movement. 

  • The scoutmaster of a troop of scouts (youth organization) and their form of address to him. 

  • The act of passing over an interval from one thing to another; an omission of a part. 

  • A wheeled basket used in cotton factories. 

  • A skep, or basket, such as a creel or a handbasket. 

  • A person who attempts to disappear so as not to be found. 

  • A charge of syrup in the pans. 

  • skywave propagation 

  • The captain of a sports team. Also, a form of address by the team to the captain. 

  • The captain of a bowls team, who directs the team's tactics and rolls the side's last wood, so as to be able to retrieve a difficult situation if necessary. 

  • A beehive. 

  • A transportation container in a mine, usually for ore or mullock. 

verb
  • To move by hopping on alternate feet. 

  • To cause the stylus to jump back to the previous loop of the record's groove, continously repeating that part of the sound, as a result of excessive scratching or wear. 

  • To skim, ricochet or bounce over a surface. 

  • To pass by a stitch as if it were not there, continuing with the next stitch. 

  • To place an item in a skip (etymology 2, sense 1). 

  • To throw (something), making it skim, ricochet, or bounce over a surface. 

  • To disregard, miss or omit part of a continuation (some item or stage). 

  • To have insufficient ink transfer. 

  • To leap about lightly. 

  • Not to attend (some event, especially a class or a meeting). 

  • To jump rope. 

  • To leave, especially in a sudden and covert manner. 

  • To leap lightly over. 

whiff

noun
  • A sound like that of air passing through a small opening; a short or soft whistle. 

  • A brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air; a waft. 

  • A flag used as a signal. 

  • A short inhalation or exhalation of breath, especially when accompanied by smoke from a cigarette or pipe. 

  • An odour (usually unpleasant) carried briefly through the air. 

  • The name of a number of flatfish such as (dated) the lemon sole (Microstomus kitt) and now, especially, the megrim (Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis) and (with a descriptive word) a species of large-tooth flounder or sand flounder (family Paralichthyidae). 

  • A slight sign of something; a burst, a glimpse, a hint. 

  • A slight attack or touch. 

  • A characteristic quality of something; a flavour, a savour, a taste. 

  • A failure to hit a ball in various sports (for example, golf); a miss. 

  • A small quantity of cloud, smoke, vapour, etc.; specifically (obsolete), chiefly in take the whiff: a puff of tobacco smoke. 

  • From the batter's perspective: a strike. 

  • An outrigged boat for one person propelled by oar. 

verb
  • To inhale or exhale (smoke from tobacco, etc.) from a cigarette, pipe, or other smoking implement; to smoke (a cigarette, pipe, etc.); to puff. 

  • To say (something) with an exhalation of breath. 

  • To breathe in or sniff (an odour); to smell. 

  • To carry or convey (something) by, or as by, a whiff or puff of air; to blow, puff, or waft away. 

  • Of a pitcher: to strike out (a batter); to fan. 

  • To be carried, or move as if carried, by a puff of air; to waft. 

  • To smoke a cigarette, pipe, or other smoking implement. 

  • Especially in baseball or golf: to completely miss hitting a ball; hence (baseball), of a batter: to strike out; to fan. 

  • To give off or have an unpleasant smell; to stink. 

  • To catch fish by dragging a handline near the surface of the water from a moving boat. 

  • To shoot (someone) with a firearm; hence, to assassinate or kill (someone). 

  • To smell; to sniff. 

  • To fail spectacularly. 

  • In fighting games, to execute a move that fails to hit the opponent. 

  • To move in a way that causes a light gust of air, or a whistling sound. 

adj
  • Having a strong or unpleasant odour. 

intj
  • Used to indicate a sound like that of air passing through a small opening, that is, a short or soft whistle. 

How often have the words skip and whiff occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )