buffalo

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: Buf=fa=lo

CIDE DICTIONARY

buffalo, n. [Sp. bufalo (cf. It. bufalo, F. buffle), fr. L. bubalus, bufalus, a kind of African stag or gazelle; also, the buffalo or wild ox, fr. Gr. buffalo, prob. fr. ox. See Cow the animal, and cf. Buff the color, and Bubale.].

•  A species of the genus Bos or Bubalus (Bubalus bubalus), originally from India, but now found in most of the warmer countries of the eastern continent. It is larger and less docile than the common ox, and is fond of marshy places and rivers.  [1913 Webster]
•  A very large and savage species of the same genus (Syncerus Caffer syn. Bubalus Caffer) found in South Africa; -- called also Cape buffalo.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any species of wild ox.  [1913 Webster]
•  The bison of North America.  [1913 Webster]
•  A buffalo robe. See Buffalo robe, below.  [1913 Webster]
•  The buffalo fish. See Buffalofish, below.  [1913 Webster]

Buffalo berry (Bot.), a shrub of the Upper Missouri (Sherherdia argentea) with acid edible red berries. -- Buffalo bird (Zoöl.), an African bird of the genus Buphaga, of two species. These birds perch upon buffaloes and cattle, in search of parasites. -- Buffalo bug, the carpet beetle. See under Carpet. -- Buffalo chips, dry dung of the buffalo, or bison, used for fuel. [U.S.] -- Buffalo clover (Bot.), a kind of clover (Trifolium reflexum and Trifoliumsoloniferum) found in the ancient grazing grounds of the American bison. -- Buffalo cod (Zoöl.), a large, edible, marine fish (Ophiodon elongatus) of the northern Pacific coast; -- called also blue cod, and cultus cod. -- Buffalo fly, or Buffalo gnat (Zoöl.), a small dipterous insect of the genus Simulium, allied to the black fly of the North. It is often extremely abundant in the lower part of the Mississippi valley and does great injury to domestic animals, often killing large numbers of cattle and horses. In Europe the Columbatz fly is a species with similar habits. -- Buffalo grass (Bot.), a species of short, sweet grass (Buchloë dactyloides), from two to four inches high, covering the prairies on which the buffaloes, or bisons, feed. [U.S.] -- Buffalo nut (Bot.), the oily and drupelike fruit of an American shrub (Pyrularia oleifera); also, the shrub itself; oilnut. -- Buffalo robe, the skin of the bison of North America, prepared with the hair on; -- much used as a lap robe in sleighs.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

buffalo, n. & v.
--n. (pl. same or -oes)
1 either of two species of ox, Synceros caffer, native to Africa, or Bubalus arnee, native to Asia with heavy backswept horns.
2 a N. American bison, Bison bison.
--v.tr. (-oes, -oed) US sl. overawe, outwit.

Idiom

buffalo grass
1 a grass, Buchloe dactyloides, of the N. American plains.
2 a grass, Stenotaphrum secundatum, of Australia and New Zealand.

Etymology

prob. f. Port. bufalo f. LL bufalus f. L bubalus f. Gk boubalos antelope, wild ox

THESAURUS

buffalo

Brahman, Indian buffalo, addle, amaze, aurochs, baffle, balk, bamboozle, beat, beef, beef cattle, beeves, bilk, bison, boggle, bossy, bovine, bovine animal, bull, bullock, calf, carabao, cattle, circumvent, confound, cow, critter, dairy cattle, dairy cow, dash, daze, disappoint, dogie, floor, foil, fuddle, get, heifer, hornless cow, keep in suspense, kine, leppy, lick, maverick, maze, milch cow, milcher, milk cow, milker, muddle, muley cow, muley head, musk-ox, mystify, neat, nonplus, ox, oxen, perplex, puzzle, ruin, steer, stick, stirk, stot, stump, throw, wisent, yak, yearling, zebu

ROGET THESAURUS

buffalo

Animal

N animal, animal kingdom, fauna, brute creation, beast, brute, creature, critter, wight, created being, creeping thing, living thing, dumb animal, dumb creature, zoophyte, mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, crustacean, shellfish, mollusk, worm, insect, arthropod, microbe, microbe, animalcule, alligator, crocodile, saurian, dinosaur (extinct), snake, serpent, viper, eft, asp, aspick, frog, toad, trout, bass, tuna, muskelunge, sailfish, sardine, mackerel, ant, mosquito, bee, honeybee, tardigrade, spider, biped, quadruped, webfoot, flocks and herds, live stock, domestic animals, wild animals, game, ferae naturae, beasts of the field, fowls of the air, denizens of the sea, black game, black grouse, blackcock, duck, grouse, plover, rail, snipe, horse, cattle, kine, ox, bull, bullock, cow, milch cow, calf, heifer, shorthorn, sheep, lamb, lambkin, ewe, ram, tup, pig, swine, boar, hog, sow, steer, stot, tag, teg, bison, buffalo, yak, zebu, dog, cat, dog, hound, pup, puppy, whelp, cur, mongrel, house dog, watch dog, sheep dog, shepherd's dog, sporting dog, fancy dog, lap dog, toy dog, bull dog, badger dog, mastiff, blood hound, grey hound, stag hound, deer hound, fox hound, otter hound, harrier, beagle, spaniel, pointer, setter, retriever, Newfoundland, water dog, water spaniel, pug, poodle, turnspit, terrier, fox terrier, Skye terrier, Dandie Dinmont, collie, feline, puss, pussy, grimalkin, gib cat, tom cat, fox, Reynard, vixen, stag, deer, hart, buck, doe, roe, caribou, coyote, elk, moose, musk ox, sambar, bird, poultry, fowl, cock, hen, chicken, chanticleer, partlet, rooster, dunghill cock, barn door fowl, feathered tribes, feathered songster, singing bird, dicky bird, canary, warbler, finch, aberdevine, cushat, cygnet, ringdove, siskin, swan, wood pigeon, vermin, varmint, pest, animal, zoological equine, bovine, vaccine, canine, feline, fishy, piscatory, piscatorial, molluscous, vermicular, gallinaceous, rasorial, solidungulate, soliped.