n.
(pl. same or buffaloes)
- a heavily built wild ox with swept-back horns.
[Synceros caffer (sub-Saharan Africa) and genus Bubalus (India and SE Asia, four species).]
- the North American bison.
v.
(buffaloes, buffaloing, buffaloed)
N. Amer. informal overawe; intimidate.
▸baffle.
Etymology
C16: prob. from Port. bufalo, from late L. bufalus, from earlier bubalus, from Gk boubalos ‘antelope, wild ox’.
