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buffalo

[ buhf-uh-loh ]
/ ˈbʌf əˌloʊ /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR buffalo ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural buf·fa·loes, buf·fa·los, (especially collectively) buf·fa·lo.

any of several large wild oxen of the family Bovidae.Compare bison, Cape buffalo, water buffalo.
buffalo robe.
a buffalofish.
a shuffling tap-dance step.

verb (used with object), buf·fa·loed, buf·fa·lo·ing. Informal.

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.

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Origin of buffalo

1535–45, Americanism; earlier bufalo < Portuguese (now bufaro) < Late Latin būfalus, variant of Latin būbalus bubal

Words nearby buffalo

buff stick, buff top, buff wheel, buff-tip moth, buffa, buffalo, buffalo berry, buffalo bill, buffalo bird, buffalo carpet beetle, buffalo chips
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to buffaloing

thrill, faze, excite, touch, affect, awe, sway, inspire, dismay, dishearten, constrain, bully, subdue, alarm, appall, coerce, daunt, scare, terrify, terrorize

Example sentences from the Web for buffaloing

  • When it comes to buffaloing the opposite side, that's my long suit.

    The Outlet|Andy Adams

British Dictionary definitions for buffaloing (1 of 2)

Buffalo
/ (ˈbʌfəˌləʊ) /

noun

a port in W New York State, at the E end of Lake Erie. Pop: 285 018 (2003 est)

British Dictionary definitions for buffaloing (2 of 2)

buffalo
/ (ˈbʌfəˌləʊ) /

noun plural -loes or -lo

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 US and Canadian 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 backRelated adjective: bubaline

verb (tr) US and Canadian informal

(often passive) to confuse
to intimidate

Word Origin for buffalo

C16: from Italian bufalo, from Late Latin būfalus, alteration of Latin būbalus; see bubal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for buffaloing

Buffalo

City in western New York, on Lake Erie and the Niagara River.

notes for Buffalo

Niagara Falls is northwest of Buffalo.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.