buff

[buhf]

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a soft, thick, light-yellow leather with a napped surface, originally made from buffalo skin but later also from other skins, used for making belts, pouches, etc.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

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

Related formsbuff·a·bil·i·ty, nounbuff·a·ble, adjective

Synonyms for buff

10. burnish, shine.

buff

[buhf]

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

buff

[buhf]

noun

buffe.

buffe

or buff

[buhf]

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. 2019

Related Words for buffs

devotee, connoisseur, freak, expert, aficionado, lover, fan, addict, admirer, fiend, lemon, straw, nude, ecru, bare, tan, blonde, canary, ochre, votary

Examples from the Web for buffs

Contemporary Examples of buffs

He tans, moisturizes, exfoliates, and buffs, and then gels his hair back, with a crisp white button-up.
In ‘Mansome,’ Morgan Spurlock Takes On Modern Masculinity
Jessica Bennett
April 27, 2012
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
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

Historical Examples of buffs

The Guides and Buffs now climbed the ridges to the right and left.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir Winston S. Churchill
The Buffs, supported by the 35th Sikhs, were to take the village.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir 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'Leary
Charles James Lever
"We were the same as the Buffs, man for man," said M'Cormick.
Barrington
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for buffs

Buffs

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

buff

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

buff

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

buff

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

Word Origin and History for buffs

buff

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]

buff

adj.

"well-built, hunky," 1980s, from buff (v.) "polish, make attractive."

buff

"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.

Idioms and Phrases with buffs

buff

see in the buff.