buffalo

buffalo — noun

1. a very large cow-like animal from Africa or Asia, with thick curved horns

1.nounB2
Definition

a very large cow-like animal from Africa or Asia, with thick curved horns

Example

At dawn, Ravi led two buffalo into the wet rice field.

lead buffalo into a field

Near the river, a black buffalo lifted its horns at the dogs.

buffalo with curved horns

Common collocations
  • water buffalo
  • African buffalo
  • buffalo horns
  • a herd of buffalo
  • buffalo cart
Synonyms
  • water buffalo

    the Asian type often kept for farm work; narrower than buffalo

  • African buffalo

    the wild African type; a more exact name than buffalo by itself

Grammar Patterns

a buffalo

buffalo + plural verb

a herd of buffalo

Usage Note

Usually names the African or Asian animal itself. Distinguish from sense 2, which is the North American bison often called buffalo in everyday English.

Common Mistakes

We saw water buffalo in Yellowstone.
We saw buffalo in Yellowstone.
the animal there is the North American kind in sense 2, not the Asian water buffalo.

2. a bison from North America, especially one living on open grassland

2.nounC1
Definition

a bison from North America, especially one living on open grassland

Example

Old photos show buffalo covering the plains behind the camp.

buffalo on the plains

At the park, a buffalo stood still while snow fell on its back.

Common collocations
  • American buffalo
  • buffalo herd
  • buffalo skull
  • buffalo hunter
  • buffalo on the plains
Synonyms
  • bison

    the standard exact name for this animal

  • American bison

    the full name used in careful or scientific contexts

  • plains bison

    a more specific term for the grassland type

Grammar Patterns

a buffalo

buffalo on the plains

a herd of buffalo

Usage Note

Common for the animal more exactly called bison, especially in North American contexts. Distinguish from sense 1, which refers to the true buffalo of Africa and Asia.

Common Mistakes

A buffalo in India blocked the road.
A water buffalo blocked the road.
this sense is the North American animal, not the Asian one in sense 1.

buffalo — verb

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For sense 1, buffalo is a general word for certain very large horned animals from Africa and Asia. Water buffalo is narrower and usually means the Asian type often kept on farms for work or milk. Bison is a different animal, although many people in North America call it buffalo in everyday speech; that use belongs to noun sense 2. Ox is different again: it usually means a cow-like animal trained to pull or carry heavy things, not a wild species name. Compare: 'The farmer led a water buffalo into the field.' 'Tourists watched a buffalo near the river.' 'We saw bison in Yellowstone.'

buffalo ↗water buffalobisonox

Etymology

GreekLate LatinItalianEnglish

English borrowed buffalo in the 1500s from European forms such as Portuguese or Italian bufalo. Those forms go back to Late Latin bufalus or bubalus, which came from Greek boubalos, a name for a wild ox or similar animal. The word first named the animal itself, and later English also used it as a verb meaning to confuse someone.