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buff

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 a soft, thick, light-yellow leather with a napped surface, originally made from buffalo skin but later also from other skins, used for making belts, pouches, etc.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

Related forms:
buff⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun
buff⋅a⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
10. burnish, shine.
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To buff
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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
buff(ed) [bəft]

  1. mod.
    strong; muscular. : He has such buff legs! Does he have a job or does he just work out?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

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]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

buff

see in the buff.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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