black buffalo

American  

noun

1. a buffalofish, Ictiobus niger, of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River drainage systems south to Mexico.

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Etymology

Origin of black buffalo

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45

Example Sentences

Minnesota has native populations of each of the three species studied: bigmouth buffalo, smallmouth buffalo and black buffalo.

From Science Daily • Oct. 30, 2023

At the edge of the volcano, I surveyed the landscape: The flows seemed to rumble like big black buffalo toward Sicily’s second city — teeming Catania.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 7, 2017

When she departed, she lay on the ground and turned into a black buffalo, then she turned red, then yellow and finally white, the four colours of the winds.

From Economist • Jul. 26, 2012

Garza, who is also known by his Indian name, Makateonenodua, meaning "black buffalo," is under federal indictment for allegedly embezzling more than $300,000 from his tribe.

From Time Magazine Archive

The black buffalo is dead; one camel ditto, and one mule left behind ill.

From The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume I (of 2), 1866-1868 by Waller, Horace