WHIFFET

also WHIFFIT, WIFFET (for noun senses only)

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DEFINITIONS
NOUN
1. a small, often noisy, dog ...1767 Amer. dial.
2. a small or contemptible person; an insignificant looking person;
a lazy boy ...1767 Amer. dial.
VERB
to veer, waver, fluctuate; to cause smoke, etc. to wave or fluctuate
​...1896 Eng. dial. 

(Note: E-WEB has the noun definition "a little whiff or puff";
E-NED notes that it is not authenticated)

Also, from: American Notes and Queries. Vol. IV, November, 1889 - April, 1890

? from whiff n. (a slight puff or gust of wind) + -et

(for definition noun 1)
From: The Congressional Globe, 
Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings 
of the Twenty-Fifth Congress
Blair and Rives, Editors
Third Session, Volume VII, 1839
Appendix to The Congressional Globe
Public Defalcations.
Speech of Mr. Duncan of Ohio
p. 105