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chuffle (CHUHF-uhl) - v., (of the larger species of cats) to make a low snuffling sound analogous to the purring of smaller cat species. n., such a sound.
Tigers and leopards don't have the right kind of voice-box to produce an actual purr -- so they produce a sound that's similar to a human imitation of a cat's purr, only, yanno, deeper because bigger. The sound is also called prusten (from German prusten, to sneeze/snort). Chuffle is roughly imitative, influenced by chuff in the sense of a steam engine's sound.
---L.
Tigers and leopards don't have the right kind of voice-box to produce an actual purr -- so they produce a sound that's similar to a human imitation of a cat's purr, only, yanno, deeper because bigger. The sound is also called prusten (from German prusten, to sneeze/snort). Chuffle is roughly imitative, influenced by chuff in the sense of a steam engine's sound.
---L.
