buff 1
— buffability , n. — buffable , adj.
/buf/ , n.
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 a soft, thick, light-yellow leather with a napped surface, originally made from buffalo skin but later also from other skins, used for making belts, pouches, etc.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.
adj.
8. having the color of buff.
9. made of buff leather.
10. Slang. physically attractive; muscular.
v.t.
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.
[ 1545-55; 1900-05 for def. 4; earlier buffe wild ox, back formation from buffle bufalus; 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 ]
Syn. 10. burnish, shine.
buff 2
/buf/ , v.t.
1. to reduce or deaden the force of; act as a buffer.
n.
2. Chiefly Brit. Dial. a blow; slap.
[ 1375-1425; late ME buffe, back formation from BUFFET 1 ]
buff 3
/buf/ , n.
buffe.