Buff
Buff (buf) , noun
[Old English buff, buffe, buff, buffalo, French 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.
2.
The color of buff; a light yellow, shading toward pink, gray, or brown.
A visage rough,
Deformed, unfeatured, and a skin of buff.
3.
A military coat, made of buff leather. — Shakespeare
4.
(Medicine) The grayish viscid substance constituting the buffy coat. See Buffy coat, under Buffy, a.
5.
(Mechanics) A wheel covered with buff leather, and used in polishing cutlery, spoons, etc.
6.
The bare skin; as, to strip to the buff. [Colloquial]
To be in buff is equivalent to being naked.
Buff , adjective
1.
Made of buff leather. — Goldsmith
2.
Of the color of buff.
Collocations (3)
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. [Obsolete] — Nares
Buff stick (Mechanics) , a strip of wood covered with buff leather, used in polishing.
Buff , transitive verb
Buff , transitive verb
[Old French bufer to cuff, buffet. See Buffet a blow.]
To strike. [Obsolete] — B. Jonson
Buff , noun
[See Buffet.]
A buffet; a blow; -- obsolete except in the phrase “Blindman's buff.” See blindman's buff.
Nathless so sore a buff to him it lent
That made him reel.
Buff , adjective
[Of uncertain etymol.]
Firm; sturdy.
And for the good old cause stood buff,
'Gainst many a bitter kick and cuff.