Buffalo Bill

American  

noun

1. Cody, William Frederick.

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Buffalo Bill British  

noun

1. nickname of William Frederick Cody . 1846–1917, US showman who toured Europe and the US with his famous Wild West Show

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Buffalo Bill ¹ Cultural  

1. William F. Cody, an American adventurer, soldier, and showman of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His popular “Wild West Show,” begun in the 1880s, featured acts such as the marksmanship of Annie Oakley, mock battles between Native Americans and army troops, and breathtaking displays of cowboy skills and horsemanship. It toured the United States, Canada, and Europe.

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Buffalo Bill ² Cultural  

1. William F. Cody, a frontier settler, scout, and soldier of the nineteenth century. He was involved in several military actions against Native Americans and later turned to entertainment, founding the celebrated “Wild West Show.” (See also under “Fine Arts.”)

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Buffalo Bill's “Wild West Show” was a major influence in the creation of the popular image of the romantic and exciting old West.

Example Sentences

This was also the heyday of traveling extravaganzas like Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West shows, which featured hundreds of performers re-enacting frontier battles and showing off their hunting and sharpshooting skills.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026

His character in 1982's Tootsie was similarly lacking in redeeming qualities, as was the title character of Buffalo Bill, the NBC sitcom Mr Coleman later starred in.

From BBC • May 17, 2024

Summers off from law school, he joined the Buffalo Bill Wild West show, and traveled to London, where, what-ho, he ran into Yaw again.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2024

For the plaintiffs, Ashley Hlebinsky, the former curator of the Cody Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Wyoming.

From New York Times • Mar. 14, 2023

A tall man in a huge white hat and a white buckskin coat heavily trimmed in silver stood a full head above the men around him: Buffalo Bill.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson