A line in a play or film, for example, that elicits a big laugh: "He doesn't go for the big boffs, artificially inflated, but lets his comedy build through a leisurely accumulation of bizarre details"(Vincent Canby).
A big laugh.
A conspicuous success. Also called boffo, boffola.
[Probably from b(ox) off(ice).]
bof·fo (bŏf'ō) adj. Extremely successful; great. n.
pl.bof·fos See boff1.
n. a box-office hit; a successful play, musical, movie, etc. : The last one was a tremendous boffo, but we only broke even.
mod. successful; tremendous. : Another boffo success for Willy!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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