buff

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I'm also a history buff, which is how I got interested in the Steagles.

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Definitions (51)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (12)

  1. noun A soft, thick, undyed leather made chiefly from the skins of buffalo, elk, or oxen.
  2. noun A military uniform coat made of such leather.
  3. noun A pale, light, or moderate yellowish pink to yellow, including moderate orange-yellow to light yellowish brown.
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Examples (45)

  • Mark Blackwell in the buff was an artist's dream Silently, Ellie rose and lifted his blue-and-white-striped pajama top from the bedpost, then pulled it over her head. —  Stephanie Bond - Irresistible
  • He is also a professional Tech Writer for I'm a bit of a domain name buff, ever have been since my first job as an account manager of Belgium's largest domain name registrar and hosting provider. —  TheNextWeb.com
  • If you are a history buff, that is probably a fact that you would greatly appreciate, as you spend your holiday on the Cote d'Azur. —  Find Free Articles - ArticlesBase
  • Kim is reportedly a big film buff, and his strategy appears to have borrowed heavily from the 1959 movie "The Mouse That Roared," about a fictional poor country that declares war on the U.S., expecting to lose and get aid like the Marshall Plan that Washington used to help rebuild its World War II foes. —  chron.com Chronicle
  • Kim is reportedly a big film buff, and his strategy appears to have borrowed heavily from the —  Omaha World-Herald > Frontpage
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

woolen ·  tight-fitting ·  maroon ·  brocaded ·  plaid ·  quilted ·  khaki ·  scarlet ·  leathern ·  tan ·  buckskin ·  sheepskin

Used in the same contextWord Family

buff:   buffs ·  buffing
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (10)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. From obsolete buffle, buffalo, from French buffle, from Late Latin būfalus; see buffalo.
  2. From the buff-colored uniform worn by New York volunteer firemen around 1920, originally applied to an enthusiast of fires and firefighting.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (8)

  1. Early modern English buffe, short for buffle, q. v.
  2. from buff, n., 7.
  3. from Middle English *buffen, boffen, stammer, from Old French buffer, bufer, later and modern F. bouffer (and bouffir), puff, blow, = Provencal Spanish Portuguese bufar = Italian buffare, formerly also boffare, dial. boffar (Middle Latin buffare), puff, blow, puff out the cheeks; a widely spread word, in part imitative, appearing in English in the literally sense in the form puff, q. v. Cf. buff, buffet, buffoon, etc.
  4. from buff, v. Cf. buffard, buffer.
  5. Early modern English buffe (found in Middle English only in the deriv. form buffet, q. v.) = Middle High German buf, buff, büff, puf, German puff = Middle Low German buff = Old Danish buff = Swedish dial. buff, from Old French buffe, bufe, a slap, box, blow, buffet, properly a slap on the cheek (cf. bouffe), = Old Italian buffa, the cheeks puffed out, a puff with the mouth, also strife, contention, modern Italian a trick, jest, = Spanish bufa, also befa, a jest, jeer, Middle Latin buffa, the cheeks puffed out (cf. Italian buffo, dial. boff, a puff of wind, a comic actor, = Spanish bufo, a comic actor: see buffoon); cf. Middle Latin buffare, Old French buffer, bufer, etc., puff: see buff.
  6. Early modern English buffe (found in Middle English only in the deriv. form buffet, q. v.) = Middle Low German Low German buffen = German puffen = ÖDanish buffe = Swedish dial. buffa, from Old French buffier, buffoyer, slap, strike, maltreat, from buffe, bufe, a slap, box, blow, buffet: see buff, n.
  7. Early modern English also buffe, buffie, from Italian buffa, “the buffie or breathing-holes of a head-piece or helmet” (Florio); a particular use of buffa, the cheeks puffed out: see buff.”
  8. English dial. variant of bough; cf. duff, variant of dough, barf, variant of bargh.
 

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