verb
Common
buffalo
BUHF-uhl-oh
Buffalo (verb) means to intimidate, confuse, or trick someone, often to pressure them into doing something. Example: “Don't let your older brother buffalo you into doing his chores.”
verb
1
To intimidate, confuse, or trick someone, often to pressure them into doing something.
"The nontechnical administrator should never be buffaloed by the esoteric vocabulary and the endless jargon of the computer expert."
— J. Victor Baldridge, The Campus and the Microcomputer Revolution (1984)
"If nonfiction is where you do your best writing, or your best teaching of writing, don't be buffaloed into the idea that it's an inferior species."
— William Zinsser, On Writing Well (2006)
"Don't let your older brother buffalo you into doing his chores."
"The loud lawyer tried to buffalo the nervous witness into changing her story."
"Don't let the salesman buffalo you into buying the extended warranty."
"He was speaking to an indifferent audience of pale polite faces, in an overheated space on the Northern edge of Europe, a subcontinent whose natives for a few passing centuries had bullied and buffaloed the rest of the world."
— John Updike, Bech At Bay (1998)
2
To hunt buffalo.
"The tribe buffaloed each autumn to stock up on food for winter."
"He spent that season buffaloing on the plains with a small group of hunters."
"Nineteenth-century hunters buffaloed across the plains for hides and meat."
How to use buffalo
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAs a verb, it usually means to bully or bluff someone into backing down or agreeing to something.
Common mistake
The verb sense (to intimidate) is distinct from and much rarer than the everyday noun "buffalo" (the animal).
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Word forms
- Third person singular
- buffaloes
- Past tense
- buffaloed
Fill the gap
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Don't let your older brother _____ you into doing his chores.
Etymology
Borrowed via Portuguese or Spanish "búfalo," ultimately from Ancient Greek "boubalos," referring to an antelope or wild ox.
Related words
Rhymes for buffalo
See all rhymes for buffalo →Frequently asked questions
What does “buffalo” mean?
The word “buffalo” means to intimidate, confuse, or trick someone, often to pressure them into doing something. In plain terms, as a verb, it usually means to bully or bluff someone into backing down or agreeing to something.
How do you pronounce “buffalo”?
“Buffalo” is pronounced BUHF-uhl-oh (/ˈbʌf.ə.loʊ/ in IPA).
How do you use “buffalo” in a sentence?
Here is “buffalo” used in a sentence: “Don't let the salesman buffalo you into buying the extended warranty.”
What part of speech is “buffalo”?
“Buffalo” is a verb.
Where does the word “buffalo” come from?
The word “buffalo” comes from Ancient Greek. Borrowed via Portuguese or Spanish "búfalo," ultimately from Ancient Greek "boubalos," referring to an antelope or wild ox.
Is “buffalo” a common word?
“Buffalo” is a fairly common word in modern English.
How many meanings does “buffalo” have?
“Buffalo” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to intimidate, confuse, or trick someone, often to pressure them into doing something.
What is the difference between buffalo (the verb) and bully?
Both involve pressuring someone, but "bully" stresses repeated force or cruelty, while "buffalo" leans more on confusing or deceiving a person to push them into a decision. Buffaloing someone often relies on bluff rather than open aggression.
Why can the word buffalo be repeated many times in a grammatical sentence?
The famous sentence "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" works because "buffalo" can be a place (Buffalo), an animal, and this verb meaning to intimidate. English lets nouns and verbs share the same form, so stacking these three meanings produces a sentence that is odd but grammatically valid.
What is the difference between buffalo the animal and buffalo the verb?
The noun refers to the large animal, while the verb means either to intimidate and trick someone or to hunt buffalo. Context makes the meaning clear, since the verb takes an object, as in "they buffaloed him into signing."
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