buff

Definitions

1. 1.The color to buff; a light yellow, shading toward pink, gray, or brown. A visage rough, Deformed, unfeatured, and a skin of buff. Dryden.
2. 2.A military coat, made of buff leather. Shak.
3. 3.(Med.) The grayish viscid substance constituting the buffy coat. See Buffy coat, under Buffy, a.
4. 4.(Mech.) A wheel covered with buff leather, and used in polishing cutlery, spoons, etc.
5. 5.The bare skin; as, to strip to the buff. [Colloq.] To be in buff is equivalent to being naked. Wright.
6. 6.Made of buff leather. Goldsmith.
7. 7.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.
8. 8.To polish with a buff. See Buff, n., 5.
9. 9.To strike. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
10. 10.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.
11. 11.Firm; sturdy. And for the good old cause stood buff, 'Gainst many a bitter kick and cuff. Hudibras.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "buff" mean?
• What is another word for "buff"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is buff.

• What is the color to buff; a light yellow, shading toward pink, gray, or brown. A visage rough, Deformed, unfeatured, and a skin of buff. Dryden called?
• What is a military coat, made of buff leather. Shak called?
• What is the grayish viscid substance constituting the buffy coat. See Buffy coat, under Buffy, a called?
• What is a wheel covered with buff leather, and used in polishing cutlery, spoons, etc called?
• What is the bare skin; as, to strip to the buff. [Colloq.] To be in buff is equivalent to being naked. Wright called?
• What is 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 called?
• What is firm; sturdy. And for the good old cause stood buff, 'Gainst many a bitter kick and cuff. Hudibras called?