Buff

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The color of buff; a light yellow, shading toward pink, gray, or brown. [ 1913 Webster ]

A visage rough,
Deformed, unfeatured, and a skin of buff. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A military coat, made of buff leather. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Med.) The grayish viscid substance constituting the buffy coat. See Buffy coat, under Buffy, a. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mech.) A wheel covered with buff leather, and used in polishing cutlery, spoons, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The bare skin; as, to strip to the buff. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To be in buff is equivalent to being naked. Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Made of buff leather. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of the color of buff. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Of uncertain etymol. ] Firm; sturdy. [ 1913 Webster ]

And for the good old cause stood buff,
'Gainst many a bitter kick and cuff. Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Buffet. ] A buffet; a blow; -- obsolete except in the phrase “Blindman's buff.” See blindman's buff. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nathless so sore a buff to him it lent
That made him reel. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ OF. bufer to cuff, buffet. See Buffet a blow. ] To strike. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. fem. (Mus.) [ It. See Buffoon. ] The comic actress in an opera. -- a. Comic, farcical. [ 1913 Webster ]

Aria buffa, a droll or comic air. --
Opera buffa, a comic opera. See Opera bouffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Buffaloes [ Sp. bufalo (cf. It. bufalo, F. buffle), fr. L. bubalus, bufalus, a kind of African stag or gazelle; also, the buffalo or wild ox, fr. Gr. &unr_; buffalo, prob. fr. &unr_; ox. See Cow the animal, and cf. Buff the color, and Bubale. ] 1. (Zool.) A species of the genus Bos or Bubalus (Bubalus bubalus), originally from India, but now found in most of the warmer countries of the eastern continent. It is larger and less docile than the common ox, and is fond of marshy places and rivers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A very large and savage species of the same genus (Syncerus Caffer syn. Bubalus Caffer) found in South Africa; -- called also Cape buffalo. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) Any species of wild ox. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) The bison of North America. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A buffalo robe. See Buffalo robe, below. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Zool.) The buffalo fish. See Buffalofish, below. [ 1913 Webster ]

Buffalo berry (Bot.), a shrub of the Upper Missouri (Sherherdia argentea) with acid edible red berries. --
Buffalo bird (Zool.), an African bird of the genus Buphaga, of two species. These birds perch upon buffaloes and cattle, in search of parasites. --
Buffalo bug, the carpet beetle. See under Carpet. --
Buffalo chips, dry dung of the buffalo, or bison, used for fuel. [ U.S. ] --
Buffalo clover (Bot.), a kind of clover (Trifolium reflexum and Trifoliumsoloniferum) found in the ancient grazing grounds of the American bison. --
Buffalo cod (Zool.), a large, edible, marine fish (Ophiodon elongatus) of the northern Pacific coast; -- called also blue cod, and cultus cod. --
Buffalo fly, or
Buffalo gnat (Zool.), a small dipterous insect of the genus Simulium, allied to the black fly of the North. It is often extremely abundant in the lower part of the Mississippi valley and does great injury to domestic animals, often killing large numbers of cattle and horses. In Europe the Columbatz fly is a species with similar habits. --
Buffalo grass (Bot.), a species of short, sweet grass (Buchloë dactyloides), from two to four inches high, covering the prairies on which the buffaloes, or bisons, feed. [ U.S. ] --
Buffalo nut (Bot.), the oily and drupelike fruit of an American shrub (Pyrularia oleifera); also, the shrub itself; oilnut. --
Buffalo robe, the skin of the bison of North America, prepared with the hair on; -- much used as a lap robe in sleighs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) 1. any of several large carplike North American fish. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. (Zool.) Any of several large fresh-water fishes of the family Catostomidæ (also called suckers see Sucker family), of the Mississippi valley. The red-mouthed or brown (Ictiobus bubalus), the big-mouthed buffalofish (Ictiobus cyrinellus, formerly called Bubalichthys urus), the black buffalofish (Ictiobus niger), and the small-mouthed buffalofish (Ictiobus bubalus, formerly called Bubalichthys altus), are among the more important species used as food. [ PJC ]