buffaloes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of buffalo.

   A pair of old buffaloes stood in the shallows, eyeing the lions on the bank.

   Early travelers on the prairie described buffaloes grazing as far as they could see.

   Note

   The plural adds -es, though buffalos is also found, as in the phrase true buffalos. It covers every animal the singular names: Cape buffalo, water buffalo, and the American bison. The identical spelling is the present-tense verb, so the senator buffaloes reporters is about bluffing, not herds; the sentence around the word shows which is meant.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of buffalo.

   Every election season, the senator buffaloes reporters with a flood of confusing statistics.

   The old card shark buffaloes most of the table, but tonight a newcomer called his bluff.

   Note

   Every meaning of the verb takes a direct object: someone buffaloes somebody, never simply buffaloes. In American slang it means to outwit, confuse or intimidate a person, the way a card shark buffaloes a table of players. It can also mean to hunt buffalo, and an archaic meaning was rougher still: to pistol-whip.

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