buffet

buffet — noun

1. a meal where many dishes are put out together and each person chooses and serves

1.nounB1
Definition

a meal where many dishes are put out together and each person chooses and serves their own food.

Example

At noon, hotel guests lined up for the breakfast buffet by the pool.

breakfast buffet

Rashida chose salad first, then went back to the buffet for fish.

go back to the buffet for [dish]

Common collocations
  • breakfast buffet
  • lunch buffet
  • cold buffet
  • buffet table
  • serve a buffet
Synonyms
  • spread

    informal and focuses on the food laid out, not the serving system

  • smorgasbord

    more marked in style and often suggests a wide mixed choice

  • banquet

    more formal and usually served to seated guests rather than self-service

Grammar Patterns

a breakfast buffet

go back to the buffet

buffet table

Usage Note

Often modified by meal words such as 'breakfast', 'lunch', or 'salad'. Distinguish from sense 2, which names the place selling food, and sense 3, which names the furniture.

Common Mistakes

The hotel gave buffet for breakfast.
The hotel served a buffet for breakfast.
this noun is countable and usually follows verbs like 'serve' or 'offer'.
We ate in the buffet at the wedding.
We ate from the buffet at the wedding.
this sense is the meal arrangement, not the room or shop.

2. a small place in a station or on a train where travellers can buy simple food an

2.nounB2
Definition

a small place in a station or on a train where travellers can buy simple food and drinks.

Example

Before the train left, Omar grabbed tea and a roll at the buffet.

at the buffet

A long line formed outside the station buffet after the late bus arrived.

station buffet

Common collocations
  • station buffet
  • railway buffet
  • buffet car
  • queue at the buffet
Synonyms
  • snack bar

    the closest everyday equivalent for a small place selling simple food

  • refreshment counter

    more descriptive and slightly more formal

  • cafe

    broader and not limited to stations or transport settings

Grammar Patterns

at the buffet

station buffet

buffet car

Usage Note

Common in travel contexts, especially older railway and bus-station English. The phrase 'buffet car' names the train section where food is sold.

Common Mistakes

Let's meet in the buffet on platform 3.
Let's meet at the buffet on platform 3.
this sense usually treats the buffet as a counter or food place, so 'at' is the natural preposition.

3. in American English, a long piece of dining-room furniture used to set out food,

3.nounC1
Definition

in American English, a long piece of dining-room furniture used to set out food, with drawers or cupboards for plates, knives, and similar items.

Example

Leila set the soup bowls on the buffet before the guests arrived.

set [dishes] on the buffet

Inside the old buffet, Aunt Rosa kept silver forks and tablecloths.

inside the buffet

Common collocations
  • wooden buffet
  • dining-room buffet
  • put dishes on the buffet
  • keep silver in the buffet
Synonyms
  • sideboard

    the closest equivalent and more common in many varieties of English

  • cabinet

    broader and does not specifically suggest dining-room use

  • server

    used in furniture catalogues for a serving unit, often more modern in style

Grammar Patterns

on the buffet

inside the buffet

wooden buffet

Usage Note

American English only in this meaning. Distinguish from sense 1, where buffet is the meal, and sense 2, where it is a place selling food during travel.

Common Mistakes

She put the plates in the buffet table.
She put the plates on the buffet.' / 'She put the plates in the buffet drawer.
the top surface takes 'on'; only a drawer or cupboard takes 'in'.

buffet — verb

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For noun/1, a buffet is defined by the way people eat: dishes are set out together, and guests choose for themselves. A banquet is more formal and usually involves guests being served at tables. A feast stresses abundance and pleasure, and it does not have to be self-service. Smorgasbord is close to buffet, but it sounds more marked and often suggests a Scandinavian-style spread or a very wide mixed selection. A cafeteria is mainly a place or system for getting food along a counter, not a special social meal. Say 'The hotel offers a breakfast buffet,' but 'The city hosted a state banquet.'

banquet ↗feast ↗smorgasbordcafeteria ↗

Etymology

Old FrenchFrenchEnglish

Modern English buffet brings together two older French lines. The noun for a serving table or sideboard came through French buffet, and from that base English later developed the meal and station-food senses. The verb comes from Old French buffeter, meaning to strike or slap. Over time, English kept both histories but wrote them with the same form, so the noun and verb look alike today even though they began separately.