DCHP-1 Online
buffalo ((n.)) 
1 n. Obs. the musk-ox, Ovibos moschatus.
- 1689 (1929) In ye Evening spyed two Buffillo left our things & pursued ym we Kill'd one they are ill shapen beast their Body being bigger than ox leg & foot like ye same but not half so long a long neck & head a hog their Horns not growing like other Beast but joyn together upon their forehead & so come down ye side of their head & turn up till ye tips be even wth ye Buts their Hair is near a foot long.
- 1795 (1911) This lake I distinguished by the name of Buffalo, or Musk-Ox Lake, from the number of those animals that we found grazing on the margin of it.
2 n. the North American bison, Bison bison.
See also: buff moostoos plain(s) buffalo
- 1665 (1885) [The horns of the Buffes are as big as those of an ox, but not so long, but bigger & of a blackish collour; he hath a very long hairy taile; he is reddish, his hair frized & very fine.]
- 1691 (1929) This day we lay still ye Indians being willing for to go hunt Buffillo because there is none of these Beast in ye woods. . . .
- 1743 (1949) These bufftowe . . . being not so swift footed as Deer . . . I have Known Indian women Kill them by catching them by the tail, and Run fire brans up their ---- &c.
- 1962 Since the buffalo disappeared from the plains and the West's potential as a ranching country was first recognized, men have spun yarns. . . .
3 n. the meat of the buffalo.
- 1843 (1955) We live upon Whitefish chiefly, varied with dried or fresh moose meat, or buffaloe, as the hunters send it in.
- 1958 Monday evening's activities will include a buffalo barbecue, and Indian dance. . . .
4 n. a buffalo robe.
- c1825 (1949) . . . the two sons lay on the floor in another corner with a buffalo below them and another above them.
- 1869 Thus we sped through the bitter day, crouching beneath the "buffaloes". . . .
- 1901 (1903) "Den w'en he's feex de buffalo, an' wissle to hees pony. . . ."
5 n. a species of sucker, Catostomidae, resembling a carp and having a humped back.
See also: buffalo fish
- 1953 Sometimes buffalo fishing is easy, sometimes difficult. Stormy weather and rough water is not the time to hunt buffaloes.
- 1689 (1929) In ye Evening spyed two Buffillo left our things & pursued ym we Kill'd one they are ill shapen beast their Body being bigger than ox leg & foot like ye same but not half so long a long neck & head a hog their Horns not growing like other Beast but joyn together upon their forehead & so come down ye side of their head & turn up till ye tips be even wth ye Buts their Hair is near a foot long.