buffalo

[buhf-uh-loh] /ˈbʌf əˌloʊ/
noun, plural buffaloes, buffalos (especially collectively) buffalo.
1.
any of several large wild oxen of the family Bovidae.
Compare bison, Cape buffalo, water buffalo.
2.
buffalo robe.
3.
a buffalofish.
4.
a shuffling tap-dance step.
verb (used with object), buffaloed, buffaloing. Informal.
5.
to puzzle or baffle; confuse; mystify:
He was buffaloed by the problem.
6.
to impress or intimidate by a display of power, importance, etc.:
The older boys buffaloed him.
Origin
1535-45, Americanism; earlier bufalo < Portuguese (now bufaro) < Late Latin būfalus, variant of Latin būbalus bubal

Buffalo

[buhf-uh-loh] /ˈbʌf əˌloʊ/
noun
1.
a port in W New York, on Lake Erie.
Examples from the web for buffalo
  • At least twenty such adventures were published by flying buffalo.
British Dictionary definitions for buffalo

buffalo

/ˈbʌfəˌləʊ/
noun (pl) -loes, -lo
1.
Also called Cape buffalo. a member of the cattle tribe, Syncerus caffer, mostly found in game reserves in southern and eastern Africa and having upward-curving horns
2.
short for water buffalo
3.
(US & Canadian) Also called bison. a member of the cattle tribe, Bison bison, formerly widely distributed over the prairies of W North America but now confined to reserves and parks, with a massive head, shaggy forequarters, and a humped back related adjective bubaline
verb (transitive) (US & Canadian, informal)
4.
(often passive) to confuse
5.
to intimidate
Word Origin
C16: from Italian bufalo, from Late Latin būfalus, alteration of Latin būbalus; see bubal

Buffalo

/ˈbʌfəˌləʊ/
noun
1.
a port in W New York State, at the E end of Lake Erie. Pop: 285 018 (2003 est)
Word Origin and History for buffalo
n.

1580s (earlier buffel, 1510s, from Middle French), from Portuguese bufalo "water buffalo," from Latin bufalus, variant of bubalus "wild ox," from Greek boubalos "buffalo," originally a kind of African antelope, later used of a type of domesticated ox in southern Asia and the Mediterranean lands, perhaps from bous "ox, cow" (see cow (n.)). Wrongly applied since 1630s to the American bison. Buffalo gnat is recorded from 1822.

v.

"alarm, overawe," 1900, from buffalo (n.). Probably from the animals' tendency to mass panic. Related: Buffaloed; buffaloing.

Buffalo

city in western New York state, U.S., of disputed origin (there never were buffalo thereabouts), perhaps from the name of a native chief, or a corruption of French beau fleuve "beautiful river." Buffalo wings finger food so called because the recipe was invented in Buffalo (1964, at Frank & Teressa's Anchor Bar on Main Street).

buffalo in Culture

Buffalo definition


City in western New York, on Lake Erie and the Niagara River.

Note: Niagara Falls is northwest of Buffalo.
Slang definitions & phrases for buffalo

buffalo

noun
  1. A heavy or fat woman; cow (1950s+)
  2. A black person •This sense reflects that black troopers were called buffalo soldiers by Native Americans (1870s+)
verb
  1. To confuse someone purposely, esp in order to cheat or dupe (1870+)
  2. To intimidate; cow; bulldoze (1890+)