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Examples

  • Sadly by the time she'd gone for her nap Stu heard a whumpf sound and looked out to see that a fresh fall of snow on Noman's head had overbalanced him and he'd collapsed, a short life really.

    tequilamonky Diary Entry tequilamonky 2009

  • The _whumpf whumpf_ of Yellow Dog's panting was loud in my ears.

    Asimov's Science Fiction 2004

  • There was a sudden giant exhalation — whumpf! — as the air was pushed out of the collapsing house.

    The Liquid Earth 1999

  • There was a sudden giant exhalation — whumpf! — as the air was pushed out of the collapsing house.

    The Liquid Earth 1999

  • There was a sudden giant exhalation — whumpf! — as the air was pushed out of the collapsing house.

    The Liquid Earth 1999

  • The girl threw her second ball, hit the cat on the right with such force it flew off the shelf and slammed into the rear of the tent with a loud whumpf!

    Time Was Perry, Steve 1998

  • As he lunged, Mizzamir stepped back and, with a gesture as of parting curtains, a phrase of magic and a flash of indigo light, he wrapped the very fabric of reality around himself and vanished, the air rushing in with a * whumpf* where he had been.

    Villains by Necessity Forward, Eve 1995

  • But Prof Tony Parker, a retired engineer leading protests in the nearby village, said the "whumpf, whumpf" noise of the turbine was already causing a nuisance - even in moderate winds.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Louise Gray 2012

  • He hit with a sickening whumpf! and was immediately covered in rotted food, newspapers, and assorted other foul-smelling things that he decided he’d rather not study too closely.

    Time Was Perry, Steve 1998

Comments

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  • According to some, the noise made by the wingbeats of the fell beasts ridden by the Nazgul in the Lord of the Rings movie.

    October 20, 2007

  • :) Aww, you're too kind!

    See also whomp.

    October 21, 2007

  • Whumpf - a technical term in avalanche science referring to the collapsing failure of a weak layer in the snowpack - most often on flat terrain - that results in a sigh, hiss or "whumpf". The spelling has been roundly debated and alternates: whumph, whomp, wump, wumpf are in use.

    Whumpf is the preferred spelling in the Operational Guidelines and Recording Standards for Snow and Avalanche Observations Canadian Avalanche Association, 2007.

    December 16, 2007