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buff - 14 dictionary results

buff

1[buhf]
–noun
1. a soft, thick, light-yellow leather with a napped surface, originally made from buffalo skin but later also from other skins, used for making belts, pouches, etc.
2. a brownish-yellow color; tan.
3. a buff stick or buff wheel.
4. a devotee or well-informed student of some activity or subject: Civil War buffs avidly read the new biography of Grant.
5. Informal. the bare skin: in the buff.
6. Also called buffcoat. a thick, short coat of buffalo leather, worn esp. by English soldiers and American colonists in the 17th century.
7. Informal. a buffalo.
–adjective
8. having the color of buff.
9. made of buff leather.
10. Slang. physically attractive; muscular.
–verb (used with object)
11. 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.
12. to polish or shine, esp. with a buffer: to buff shoes.
13. to dye or stain in a buff color.

Origin:
1545–55; 1900–05 for def. 4; earlier buffe wild ox, back formation from buffle < MF < LL būfalus; see buffalo; (def. 4) orig. a person enthusiastic about firefighting and firefighters, allegedly after the buff uniforms once worn by volunteer firefighters in New York City


buff⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun
buff⋅a⋅ble, adjective


10. burnish, shine.

buff

2[buhf]
–verb (used with object)
1. to reduce or deaden the force of; act as a buffer.
–noun
2. Chiefly British Dialect. a blow; slap.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME buffe, back formation from buffet 1

buff

3[buhf]
–noun
buffe.

buffe

[buhf]
–noun Armor.
plate armor for the lower part of the face and the throat, used with a burgonet.
Also, buff.


Origin:
1590–1600; < MF < It buffa, prob. special use of buffa puff of breath, hard breath; see buffoon
buff 1   (bŭf)   
n.  
  1. A soft, thick, undyed leather made chiefly from the skins of buffalo, elk, or oxen.
  2. A military uniform coat made of such leather.
  3. A pale, light, or moderate yellowish pink to yellow, including moderate orange-yellow to light yellowish brown.
  4. Informal Bare skin: swimming in the buff.
  5. A piece of soft material, such as velvet or leather, often mounted on a block and used for polishing.
adj.  
  1. Made or formed of buff: a buff jacket.
  2. Of the color buff.
  3. buff·er, buff·est Slang Having good muscle tone; physically fit and trim: buff athletes lifting weights at the gym.
tr.v.   buffed, buff·ing, buffs
  1. To polish or shine with a piece of soft material.
  2. To soften the surface of (leather) by raising a nap.
  3. To make the color of buff.

[From obsolete buffle, buffalo, from French buffle, from Late Latin būfalus; see buffalo.]
buff 2   (bŭf)   
n.   Informal
One who is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about a subject: a Civil War buff.

[From the buff-colored uniform worn by New York volunteer firemen around 1920, originally applied to an enthusiast of fires and firefighting.]

Buff

Buff\ (b[u^]f), n. [OE. buff, buffe, buff, buffalo, F. buffle buffalo. See Buffalo.]

1. A sort of leather, prepared from the skin of the buffalo, dressed with oil, like chamois; also, the skins of oxen, elks, and other animals, dressed in like manner. "A suit of buff." --Shak.

2. The color of buff; a light yellow, shading toward pink, gray, or brown.

A visage rough, Deformed, unfeatured, and a skin of buff. --Dryden.

3. A military coat, made of buff leather. --Shak.

4. (Med.) The grayish viscid substance constituting the buffy coat. See Buffy coat, under Buffy, a.

5. (Mech.) A wheel covered with buff leather, and used in polishing cutlery, spoons, etc.

6. The bare skin; as, to strip to the buff. [Colloq.]

To be in buff is equivalent to being naked. --Wright.

Buff

Buff\, a. 1. Made of buff leather. --Goldsmith.

2. Of the color of buff.

Buff coat, a close, military outer garment, with short sleeves, and laced tightly over the chest, made of buffalo skin, or other thick and elastic material, worn by soldiers in the 17th century as a defensive covering.

Buff jerkin, originally, a leather waistcoat; afterward, one of cloth of a buff color. [Obs.] --Nares.

Buff stick (Mech.), a strip of wood covered with buff leather, used in polishing.

Buff

Buff\, v. t. To polish with a buff. See Buff, n., 5.

Buff

Buff\, v. t. [OF. bufer to cuff, buffet. See Buffet a blow.] To strike. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.

Buff

Buff\, n. [See Buffet.] A buffet; a blow; -- obsolete except in the phrase "Blindman's buff."

Nathless so sore a buff to him it lent That made him reel. --Spenser.

Buff

Buff\, a. [Of uncertain etymol.] Firm; sturdy.

And for the good old cause stood buff, 'Gainst many a bitter kick and cuff. --Hudibras.
Language Translation for : buff
Spanish: color de ante,
German: lederfarben,
Japanese: 黄褐色

buff 
1580, buffe leather, from M.Fr. buffle "buffalo." Color term comes from hue of buffalo hides (later ox hides); association of "hide" and "skin" led c.1602 to in the buff, and use of buff or suede to polish metal led to sense of verb "to polish with a buff" (1885). Buff-colored uniforms of N.Y.C. 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

see in the buff.

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