Adjacent Words

Buff definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BUFF, n. [contracted from buffalo,or buffskin.]
1. Buffskin; a sort of leather, prepared from the skin of the buffalo, dressed with oil, like shammy. It is used for making bandoliers, belts, pouches, gloves and other articles. The skins of oxen, elks and other animals, dressed in like manner, are also called buffs.
2. A military coat made of buff-skin or similar leather.
3. The color of buff; a light yellow.
4. A yellow viscid substance formed on the surface of blood drawn in inflammatory diseases.
BUFF, v.t. To strike. [See Buffet.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of the yellowish-beige color of buff leather n
1: an ardent follower and admirer [syn: fan, buff, devotee, lover]
2: a soft thick undyed leather from the skins of e.g. buffalo or oxen
3: bare skin; naked; "swimming in the buff"
4: a medium to dark tan color [syn: yellowish brown, raw sienna, buff, caramel, caramel brown]
5: an implement consisting of soft material mounted on a block; used for polishing (as in manicuring) [syn: buff, buffer] v
1: strike, beat repeatedly; "The wind buffeted him" [syn: buffet, buff]
2: polish and make shiny; "buff the wooden floors"; "buff my shoes" [syn: buff, burnish, furbish]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle French buffle wild ox, from Old Italian bufalo Date: 1570 1. a garment (as a uniform) made of buff leather 2. the state of being nude <sunbathing in the buff> 3. a. a moderate orange yellow b. a light to moderate yellow 4. a device having a soft absorbent surface (as of cloth) by which polishing material is applied 5. [earlier buff an enthusiast about going to fires; perhaps from the buff overcoats worn by volunteer firefighters in New York City ab 1820] fan, enthusiast II. adjective Date: 1746 1. of the color buff 2. (or buffed) having a physique enhanced by bodybuilding exercises III. transitive verb Date: 1838 1. polish, shine <waxed and buffed the floor> 2. to give a velvety surface to (leather)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj., n., & v. --adj. of a yellowish beige colour (buff envelope). --n. 1 a yellowish beige colour. 2 colloq. an enthusiast, esp. for a particular hobby (railway buff). 3 colloq. the human skin unclothed. 4 a a velvety dull-yellow ox-leather. b (attrib.) (of a garment etc.) made of this (buff gloves). 5 (the Buffs) the former East Kent Regiment (from the colour of its uniform facings). --v.tr. 1 polish (metal, fingernails, etc.). 2 make (leather) velvety like buff, by removing the surface. Phrases and idioms: buff-stick a stick covered with buff and used for polishing. in the buff colloq. naked. Etymology: orig. sense 'buffalo', prob. f. F buffle; sense 2 of n. orig. f. buff uniforms formerly worn by New York volunteer firemen, applied to enthusiastic fire-watchers

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Buff Buff, a. [Of uncertain etymol.] Firm; sturdy. And for the good old cause stood buff, 'Gainst many a bitter kick and cuff. --Hudibras.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(buffs, buffing, buffed) 1. Something that is buff is pale brown in colour. He took a largish buff envelope from his pocket. COLOUR 2. You use buff to describe someone who knows a lot about a particular subject. For example, if you describe someone as a film buff, you mean that they know a lot about films. (INFORMAL) Judge Lanier is a real film buff... = enthusiast N-COUNT: supp N 3. If you buff the surface of something, for example your car or your shoes, you rub it with a piece of soft material in order to make it shine. He was already buffing the car's hubs. = polish VERB: V n • buffing Regular buffing helps prevent nails from splitting.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Buff-skin. II. a. 1. Light yellow. 2. Made of buff or buff-skin.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

All in buff; stript to the skin, stark naked.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To stand buff; to stand the brunt. To swear as a witness. He buffed it home; and I was served; he swore hard against me, and I was found guilty.

Moby Thesaurus

Leatherette, Leatheroid, Maecenas, abettor, adherent, admirer, advocate, aficionado, amateur, angel, apologist, appendage, applauder, appreciator, attendant, attender, audience, aureate, auric, authority, backer, bareness, beige, birthday suit, booster, buff-yellow, bug, burnish, canary, canary-yellow, cavaliere servente, champion, citron, citron-yellow, claqueur, coat, collector, commender, connoisseur, courtier, crank, cream, creamy, critic, cuticle, dangler, decollete, defender, dependence, dependent, dermis, devotee, dilettante, disciple, dress, ecdysiast, ecru, encomiast, encourager, endorser, energumen, enthusiast, eulogist, eulogizer, expert, exponent, extoller, fallow, fan, fanatic, fanatico, fancier, favorer, fell, finish, flaxen, fleece, flesh, flunky, follower, following, freak, frequenter, friend at court, fur, furbish, furring, gilded, gilt, glance, glaze, gloss, gold, gold-colored, golden, groupie, gymnosophist, gymnosophy, habitue, hanger-on, haunter, henchman, hide, homme de cour, hound, idolater, idolizer, imitation fur, imitation leather, infatuate, integument, jacket, lauder, leather, leather paper, leathern, leathery, lemon, lemon-yellow, lover, lunatic fringe, luster, luteolous, lutescent, mainstay, maintainer, monomaniac, nakedness, naturism, naturist, not a stitch, nudism, nudist, nudity, nut, ocherish, ocherous, ochery, ochreous, ochroid, ochrous, ochry, or, outer layer, outer skin, panegyrist, paranymph, parasite, partisan, patron, pelt, peltry, plugger, polish, praiser, primrose, primrose-colored, primrose-yellow, promoter, protagonist, public, puffer, pundit, pursuer, pursuivant, rawhide, reliance, rind, rooter, rub, rub up, saffron, saffron-colored, saffron-yellow, sallow, sand, sand-colored, sandblast, sandpaper, sandy, satellite, savant, scholar, scour, second, seconder, sectary, shadow, sheath, shine, sider, skin, skins, sleek, slick, slick down, smooth, specialist, spectator, sponsor, stalwart, standby, state of nature, stooge, straw, straw-colored, stripper, stripteaser, successor, support, supporter, sustainer, sympathizer, tagtail, tail, technical expert, technician, tegument, the altogether, the nude, the raw, theatergoer, toplessness, tout, touter, trainbearer, upholder, vair, varnish, visitor, votary, ward heeler, wax, well-wisher, worshiper, xanthic, xanthous, yellow, yellowish, zealot