any of several large wild oxen of the family Bovidae.
a buffalofish.
a shuffling tap-dance step.
to puzzle or baffle; confuse; mystify.
He was buffaloed by the problem.
to impress or intimidate by a display of power, importance, etc..
The older boys buffaloed him.
Also called: Cape buffalo. a member of the cattle tribe, Syncerus caffer , mostly found in game reserves in southern and eastern Africa and having upward-curving horns
short for water buffalo
Also called: bison. a member of the cattle tribe, Bison bison , formerly widely distributed over the prairies of W North America but now confined to reserves and parks, with a massive head, shaggy forequarters, and a humped back
(often passive) to confuse
to intimidate
Niagara Falls is northwest of Buffalo.
1535–45, earlier bufalo < Portuguese (now bufaro ) < Late Latin būfalus, variant of Latin būbalus bubal
A buffalo is a large, ox-like animal with horns and shaggy fur. In North America, a buffalo is another name for a bison. There are various types of buffalo around the world, including South Asia's water buffalo and the African buffalo, but the bison is the most well-known type of buffalo in the U.S. You can also use the word as a verb, meaning "to intimidate," and when it's capitalized, Buffalo is a city in New York state. These various meanings have resulted in the longest sentence in English that uses only one word: "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" meaning — Buffalonian (1) buffalos (2) that other Buffalonian (3) buffalos (4) scare (5) also scare (6) other Buffalonian (7) buffalos (8).
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The steep bill for the Buffalo wings, pickles and other items is part of a wrongful termination case that centers around wealth manager Brent Ryan Bodner.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
Researchers at the University at Buffalo believe they may have found an important clue for slowing some of those age related changes.
From Science Daily • May 19, 2026
The Chargers play the Buffalo Bills and the Seattle Seahawks on the road in the first four weeks of the 2026 season before facing the Chiefs and Rams.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
In addition to the Friday night game against the Seahawks on Christmas, they play on “Sunday Night Football” against the Denver Broncos and “Monday Night Football” against the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026
The doctors found themselves standing in the backwash of the Buffalo as it accelerated to take off.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
