pfft pfft.

n.  puffs of breath, as when playing a musical instrument.

<I look over and see Bubber putting his horn to the side of his mouth, and going, “pfft, pfft.”  He knew he couldn’t find his mouthpiece, so he starts backing away.  —Garvin Bushell, Jazz from the Beginning.>

n.  the noise of a breathing tube.

<I see the oxygen tube / hear a soft noise / a pfft, pfft / as the air goes into the baby.  —Sharon Creech, Heartbeat.>

n.  the squeaking of galoshes, as described in the novel What Remains by Nicholas Delbanco; see also fssst fssst.

pfft pfft pfft.

n.  the sound of a locomotive’s air reservoir valves at work.

<A pfft pfft pfft spitting sound is made by water purge valves expelling water from the air reservoir.  —Brian Solomon, GE Locomotives.>

n.  the sound of a moth bumping into things during flight.

<The moth bounced against a row of books: pfft, pfft, pfft.  Then soared up to the ceiling and into the window again.  —Andrea Barrett, Voyage of the Narwhal: A Novel.>

n.  the sound of osprey feathers sprouting.

<[M]y skin started to itch.  Pfft!  Pfft!  Pfft!  The hairs on my arms started growing like superfast-growing grass.  Then each long hair blossomed into a feather.  —K.A. Applegate, Animorphs #35.>

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