buff
1a soft, thick, light-yellow leather with a napped surface, originally made from buffalo skin but later also from other skins, used for making belts, pouches, etc.
a brownish-yellow color; tan.
a buff stick or buff wheel.
a devotee or well-informed student of some activity or subject: Civil War buffs avidly read the new biography of Grant.
Informal. the bare skin, or the state of being nude: swimming in the buff;stripped to his buff.
Also called buffcoat . a thick, short coat of buffalo leather, worn especially by English soldiers and American colonists in the 17th century.
Informal. a buffalo.
having the color of buff.
made of buff leather.
Slang. physically attractive; muscular.
to clean or polish (metal) or give a grainless finish of high luster to (plated surfaces) with or as if with a buff stick or buff wheel.
to polish or shine, especially with a buffer: to buff shoes.
to dye or stain in a buff color.
Origin of buff
1Other words for buff
Other words from buff
- buff·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- buff·a·ble, adjective
Other definitions for buff (2 of 2)
(in a video game) to enhance (player characters' attributes or abilities) with a spell, skill, or item: If you buff your party with a skill that increases movement speed, make sure everyone is in the area of effect—you wouldn’t want to leave your healer in the dust!
to reduce or deaden the force of; act as a buffer.
(in a video game) a category of spell, skill, or item that enhances player characters' attributes or abilities: Your build is specific to your job class, so a DPS Shaman and a DPS Druid might bring different buffs.
Chiefly British Dialect. a blow; slap.
Origin of buff
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use buff in a sentence
Inside, patrons can sip on bespoke whisky and coffee while getting that buffed and polished look.
The Most Exciting New Hotels, Restaurants, and Submarines of 2014 | Charlie Gilbert | December 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe buffed and handsome pair could be seen on early-morning runs around the walled compound.
Early Signs of General Petraeus’s Extramarital Affair | John Barry | November 11, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTKoon: Buffed out is jargon that I have come to associate with very muscular.
L.A. Riots Anniversary: Stacey Koon’s Disturbing Testimony | Christine Pelisek | April 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTWould you please describe to the jury what buffed out means to you.
L.A. Riots Anniversary: Stacey Koon’s Disturbing Testimony | Christine Pelisek | April 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTMounger: With regard to your state of mind, what were you thinking when you saw this buffed out person?
L.A. Riots Anniversary: Stacey Koon’s Disturbing Testimony | Christine Pelisek | April 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
It had been washed and buffed and polished until it looked as new as the day I picked it out on the salesroom floor.
Highways in Hiding | George Oliver SmithCuriously the deposit was very dark, almost black, which could not be buffed or polished bright.
And roundabout, leagues high, gloss-buffed walls of amethyst, and gleaming pillars of pearl girded this splendor.
The Red Debt | Everett MacDonaldHe was all his grandfather was, only sandpapered, buffed and polished by civilization.
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 7 | Elbert HubbardThe grain is buffed and stained black with logwood, ammonia and iron solution (curriers' ink).
Animal Proteins | Hugh Garner Bennett
British Dictionary definitions for buff (1 of 3)
/ (bʌf) /
a soft thick flexible undyed leather made chiefly from the skins of buffalo, oxen, and elk
(as modifier): a buff coat
a dull yellow or yellowish-brown colour
(as adjective): buff paint
Also called: buffer
a cloth or pad of material used for polishing an object
a flexible disc or wheel impregnated with a fine abrasive for polishing metals, etc, with a power tool
informal one's bare skin (esp in the phrase in the buff)
to clean or polish (a metal, floor, shoes, etc) with a buff
to remove the grain surface of (a leather)
Origin of buff
1British Dictionary definitions for buff (2 of 3)
/ (bʌf) /
(tr) to deaden the force of
archaic a blow or buffet (now only in the phrase blind man's buff)
Origin of buff
2British Dictionary definitions for buff (3 of 3)
/ (bʌf) /
informal an expert on or devotee of a given subject: a cheese buff
Origin of buff
3Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with buff
see in the buff.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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