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1a soft, thick, light-yellow leather with a napped surface, originally made from buffalo skin but later also from other skins, used for making belts, pouches, etc.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
Wallen isn’t interested in questioning Nashville’s norms so much as buffing them into a dazzling faultlessness.
Morgan Wallen’s big moment feels about 19 songs too long | Chris Richards | January 14, 2021 | Washington PostSo history buffs might know this spot as kind of a birthplace of housing rights.
Podcast: Facial recognition is quietly being used to control access to housing and social services | Tate Ryan-Mosley | December 2, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewMechanically, the buildings you construct have uses beyond the settlement, giving you buffs for battle or multiplayer benefits like creating your own viking lieutenant to share with friends.
‘Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’ impressions: Rekindling the spirit of the series | Elise Favis | November 9, 2020 | Washington PostHe had all that comedy cred from his years on Parks and Rec, but then he transformed himself into a buff action star!
How Chris Pratt became the internet’s least favorite Chris | Constance Grady | October 22, 2020 | VoxStories in the Washington Post and CNN stated that buffs may actually transmit more droplets than wearing no mask at all.
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 BEASTIt 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.
Browse