buffing

UK: /ˈbʌfɪŋ/

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

buff¹ /bʌf/   n. 

1. Clothing [uncountable] light-yellow leather originally made from buffalo skin.
2. [uncountable] a brownish yellow color;
   tan.
3. one who knows a lot about a certain subject:
   [countable] World War II buffs.
4. Informal Terms bare skin:
   [uncountable* the + ~] streaked across the room in the buff.

adj. 

5. of the color buff.

v. [~ + object]

6. Metallurgy to clean, polish, or shine with a piece of some soft material:
   buffed my shoes to a bright shine.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

buff¹  (buf ), n. 

1. Clothing a soft, thick, light-yellow leather with a napped surface, originally made from buffalo skin but later also from other skins, used for making belts, pouches, etc.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. Metallurgy 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 Terms the bare skin:
   in the buff.
6. Clothing Also called buffcoat. a thick, short coat of buffalo leather, worn esp. by English soldiers and American colonists in the 17th century.
7. Informal Terms a buffalo.

adj. 

8. having the color of buff.
9. made of buff leather.
10. Slang Terms physically attractive;
    muscular.

v.t. 

11. Metallurgy 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.

• Late Latin būfalus; see buffalo; (def. 4) origin, originally a person enthusiastic about firefighting and firefighters, allegedly after the buff uniforms once worn by volunteer firefighters in New York City
• Middle French
• 1545–55; 1900–05 for def. 4; earlier buffe wild ox, back formation from buffle

buff′a•bil′i•ty, n. 
buff′a•ble, adj. 
Synonyms

10. burnish, shine.

buff²  (buf ), v.t. 

1. to reduce or deaden the force of;
   act as a buffer.

n. 

2. British Terms [Chiefly Brit. Dial.] a blow;
   slap.

• late Middle English buffe, back formation from buffet¹ 1375–1425

buff³  (buf ), n. 

1. buffe.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

buff / bʌf/ noun

1. a soft thick flexible undyed leather made chiefly from the skins of buffalo, oxen, and elk
2. (as modifier): a buff coat
3. a dull yellow or yellowish-brown colour
4. (as adjective): buff paint
5. Also called: buffer a cloth or pad of material used for polishing an object
6. a flexible disc or wheel impregnated with a fine abrasive for polishing metals, etc, with a power tool
7. one's bare skin (esp in the phrase in the buff)

verb

1. to clean or polish (a metal, floor, shoes, etc) with a buff
2. to remove the grain surface of (a leather)

Etymology: 16th Century: from Old French buffle, from Old Italian bufalo, from Late Latin būfalus buffalo

buff / bʌf/ noun

1. a blow or buffet (now only in the phrase blind man's buff)

Etymology: 15th Century: back formation from buffet²

buff / bʌf/ noun

1. an expert on or devotee of a given subject

Etymology: 20th Century: originally US: an enthusiastic fire watcher, from the buff-coloured uniforms worn by volunteer firefighters in New York City