buff

[ buhf ]

/ bʌf /

noun

a soft, thick, light-yellow leather with a napped surface, originally made from buffalo skin but later also from other skins, used for making belts, pouches, etc.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.

adjective

having the color of buff.

made of buff leather.

Slang. physically attractive; muscular.

verb (used with object)

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.

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Can You Ace This Quiz About “Compliment” vs. “Complement”?

Take this quiz to see if you really know the difference between “compliment” and “complement"!

Question 1 of 11

“Compliment” and “complement” had a shared meaning a long time ago, but today they are no longer interchangeable.

True

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Origin of buff

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 FOR buff

10 burnish, shine.

OTHER WORDS FROM buff

buff·a·bil·i·ty, nounbuff·a·ble, adjective

Words nearby buff

buenos aires, buenos días, buerger's disease, buf, bufadienolide, buff, buff stick, buff top, buff wheel, buff-tip moth, buffa

Definition for buffs (2 of 4)

buff²

[ buhf ]

/ bʌf /

verb (used with object)

to reduce or deaden the force of; act as a buffer.

noun

Chiefly British Dialect. a blow; slap.

Origin of buff

1375–1425; late Middle English buffe, back formation from buffet¹

Definition for buffs (3 of 4)

buff³

[ buhf ]

/ bʌf /

noun

buffe.

Definition for buffs (4 of 4)

buffe

or buff

[ buhf ]

/ bʌf /

noun Armor.

plate armor for the lower part of the face and the throat, used with a burgonet.

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. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for buffs

It took a lot of desperate hectoring for the buffs—Do I have to do everything myself here?
Former Cop Edward Conlon on What He Learned About Profiling|Edward Conlon|April 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In fact, at one point, Ms. Cohen writes, “To anyone besides Watergate buffs, the dispute may seem trivial.”
The Times Bungles Watergate|John W. Dean|February 4, 2009|DAILY BEAST
At the sound of the musketry the Buffs were recalled from the village of Badelai and also marched to support the 35th Sikhs.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force|Sir Winston S. Churchill
Colonel Winter, of the Buffs, told me that he came across a donkey-cart in charge of two men, who were waiting at a cross-road.
Ireland as It Is|Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

At the former was a detachment of the Buffs, and at the latter of the Royal Fusiliers.
The Great Boer War|Arthur Conan Doyle
As the Buffs reached the camp the rain which had hitherto held off came down.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force|Sir Winston S. Churchill
Individual tribesmen ran up, shouting insults, to within fifty yards of the Buffs and discharged their rifles.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force|Sir Winston S. Churchill

British Dictionary definitions for buffs (1 of 4)

Buffs

/ (bʌfs) /

pl n

the Buffs the Third Regiment of Foot, esp the Royal East Kent Regiment

Word Origin for Buffs

C19: from their buff-coloured facings

British Dictionary definitions for buffs (2 of 4)

buff¹

/ (bʌf) /

noun

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)

verb

to clean or polish (a metal, floor, shoes, etc) with a buff

to remove the grain surface of (a leather)

Word Origin for buff

C16: from Old French buffle, from Old Italian bufalo, from Late Latin būfalus buffalo

British Dictionary definitions for buffs (3 of 4)

buff²

/ (bʌf) /

verb

(tr) to deaden the force of

noun

archaic a blow or buffet (now only in the phrase blind man's buff)

Word Origin for buff

C15: back formation from buffet ²

British Dictionary definitions for buffs (4 of 4)

buff³

/ (bʌf) /

noun

informal an expert on or devotee of a given subjecta cheese buff

Word Origin for buff

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

Idioms and Phrases with buffs

buff

see in the buff.

buff

noun

adjective

verb (used with object)

QUIZZES

Origin of buff

SYNONYMS FOR buff

OTHER WORDS FROM buff

Words nearby buff

Definition for buffs (2 of 4)

verb (used with object)

noun

Origin of buff

Definition for buffs (3 of 4)

noun

Definition for buffs (4 of 4)

or buff

noun Armor.

Origin of buffe

Words related to buffs

Example sentences from the Web for buffs

British Dictionary definitions for buffs (1 of 4)

pl n

Word Origin for Buffs

British Dictionary definitions for buffs (2 of 4)

noun

verb

Word Origin for buff

British Dictionary definitions for buffs (3 of 4)

verb

noun

Word Origin for buff

British Dictionary definitions for buffs (4 of 4)

noun

Word Origin for buff

Idioms and Phrases with buffs