buff1
[buhf]
- a soft, thick, light-yellow leather with a napped surface, originally made from buffalo skin but later also from other skins, used for making belts, pouches, etc.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: in the 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.
Show More
- having the color of buff.
- made of buff leather.
- Slang. physically attractive; muscular.
Show More
- 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.
Show More
Origin of buff1
1545–55; 1900–05 for def 4; earlier buffe wild ox, back formation from buffle < Middle French < Late Latin būfalus; see buffalo; (def 4) originally a person enthusiastic about firefighting and firefighters, allegedly after the buff uniforms once worn by volunteer firefighters in New York City
Synonyms
See more synonyms for buff on Thesaurus.com10. burnish, shine.
buff2
[buhf]
- to reduce or deaden the force of; act as a buffer.
Show More
- Chiefly British Dialect. a blow; slap.
Show More
Origin of buff2
buff3
[buhf]
Show More
buffe
or buff
[buhf]
- plate armor for the lower part of the face and the throat, used with a burgonet.
Show More
Origin of buffe
1590–1600; < Middle French < Italian buffa, probably special use of buffa puff of breath, hard breath; see buffoon
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for buffs
Contemporary Examples
He tans, moisturizes, exfoliates, and buffs, and then gels his hair back, with a crisp white button-up.
It took a lot of desperate hectoring for the buffs—Do I have to do everything myself here?
In fact, at one point, Ms. Cohen writes, “To anyone besides Watergate buffs, the dispute may seem trivial.”
Historical Examples
The Guides and Buffs now climbed the ridges to the right and left.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
The Buffs, supported by the 35th Sikhs, were to take the village.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
There was n't a fellow in the Buffs had more life in him than Paul Kellett.
Davenport Dunn, Volume 1 (of 2)Charles James Lever
I was in the army—in the 'Buffs'; maybe you knew one Clancy who was in them?
Arthur O'LearyCharles James Lever
"We were the same as the Buffs, man for man," said M'Cormick.
BarringtonCharles James Lever
Buffs
- the Buffs the Third Regiment of Foot, esp the Royal East Kent Regiment
Show More
Word Origin
C19: from their buff-coloured facings
buff1
- 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)
Show More
- to clean or polish (a metal, floor, shoes, etc) with a buff
- to remove the grain surface of (a leather)
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from Old French buffle, from Old Italian bufalo, from Late Latin būfalus buffalo
buff2
- (tr) to deaden the force of
Show More
- archaic a blow or buffet (now only in the phrase blind man's buff)
Show More
Word Origin
C15: back formation from buffet ²
buff3
- informal an expert on or devotee of a given subjecta cheese buff
Show More
Word Origin
C20: originally US: an enthusiastic fire watcher, from the buff-coloured uniforms worn by volunteer firemen in New York City
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
Word Origin and History for buffs
buff
n.
1570s, buffe leather "leather made of buffalo hide," from Middle French buffle "buffalo" (15c., via Italian, from Latin bufalus; see buffalo (n.)).
The color term comes from the hue of buffalo hides (later ox hides). Association of "hide" and "skin" led c.1600 to in the buff. Buff-colored uniforms of New York City volunteer firefighters since 1820s led to meaning "enthusiast" (1903).
The Buffs are men and boys whose love of fires, fire-fighting and firemen is a predominant characteristic. [N.Y. "Sun," Feb. 4, 1903]
Show More
buff
adj.
"well-built, hunky," 1980s, from buff (v.) "polish, make attractive."
Show More
buff
v.
"to polish, make attractive," 1885, in reference to the treatment of buff leather or else to the use of buff cloth in polishing metals, from buff (n.). Related: Buffed; buffing.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with buffs
buff
see in the buff.
Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.