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Buff vs Tuff - What's the difference?

buff | tuff |

In lang=en terms the difference between buff and tuff

is that buff is attractive while tuff is a light porous rock, now especially a rock composed of compacted volcanic ash varying in size from fine sand to coarse gravel.

As nouns the difference between buff and tuff

is that buff is undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals while tuff is a light porous rock, now especially a rock composed of compacted volcanic ash varying in size from fine sand to coarse gravel.

As adjectives the difference between buff and tuff

is that buff is of the color of buff leather, a brownish yellow while tuff is older and simplified spelling of tough.

As a verb buff

is to polish and make shiny by rubbing.

As an acronym BUFF

is big Ugly Fat Fellow (or Fucker); US Airforce nickname for the B-52 bomber.

buff

English

Etymology 1

From .

Noun

(en noun)
  • Undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals.
  • * Shakespeare
    • a suit of buff
  • A tool, often one covered with buff leather, used for polishing.
  • A brownish yellow colour.
  • * Dryden
    • a visage rough, deformed, unfeatured, and a skin of buff
  • A military coat made of buff leather.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • (informal) A person who is very interested in a particular subject; an enthusiast.
    • He’s a history buff .
  • (gaming) An effect that temporally makes a gaming character stronger.
  • (rail transport) Compressive coupler force that occurs during a slack bunched condition.
  • The bare skin.
    • to strip to the buff
  • * Wright
    • To be in buff is equivalent to being naked.
  • The greyish viscid substance constituting the buffy coat.
  • A substance used to dilute (street) drugs in order to increase profits.
  • * Police said the 20 ton hydraulic jack was used to press mixtures of cocaine and "buff" into bricks. (CBC)
    • Derived terms
    * in the buff
    Antonyms
    * (video games) debuff * (video games) nerf

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Of the color of buff leather, a brownish yellow.
  • (bodybuilding): Unusually muscular. (also buffed'' or ''buffed out )
    • The bouncer was a big, buff dude with tattoos, a shaved head, and a serious scowl.
  • * 1994 , Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture , page 155:
    • The appearance of logic often derives from faulty syllogisms such as Sgt. Koon's conclusion that King was an ex-con because he was "buffed out " (heavily muscled). The thinking is: "ex-cons are often buffed out; this man is buffed out; therefore, this man is an ex-con."
  • (slang) attractive.
    • Derived terms
    * buff-tip moth * buffly

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To polish and make shiny by rubbing.
  • (gaming) To make a character stronger.
    • The enchanter buffed the paladin to prepare him to fight the dragon.
    Derived terms
    * buff out * buff up * buff wheel

    Synonyms

    * (to make smooth and shiny by rubbing) wax, shine, polish, furbish, burnish
    Antonyms
    * (video games) debuff * (video games) nerf

    See also

    *

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To strike.
    • (Ben Jonson)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A buffet; a blow.
  • * Spenser
    • Nathless so sore a buff to him it lent / That made him reel.
    Derived terms
    * blind man's buff

    tuff

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • older and simplified spelling of tough
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=1980 , year_published= , edition= , editor= , author=Joy Wilt Berry, Ernie Hergenroeder , title=Tuff Stuff: A Children's Book about Trauma , chapter= citation , genre= , publisher=Educational Products Division, Word, Inc. , isbn=9780849981364 , page= , passage=Tuff Stuff teaches that while life may go smoothly most of the time, ... }}
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=2000 , year_published= , edition= , editor=Sylvia Bowerbank, Sara Mendelson , author=Margaret Cavendish , title=Paper Bodies , chapter=Preface to the Reader (1655) citation , genre= , publisher= , isbn=9781551111735 , page=139 , passage=… yet never to make us so strong as the strongest of Men, whose Sinnews are tuffer , and Bones stronger, and Joints closer, and Flesh firmer, than ours are … }}
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=2003 , year_published= , edition= , editor= , author=Ronald Carter , title=The Routledge Guide to Modern English Writing , chapter= citation , genre=Language Arts , publisher=Routledge , isbn=9780415286367 , page=96 , passage=It was rave reviewed in the Caribbean Times as 'the ruffest, tuffest and the boo-yacka of all modern gangster novels'. }}
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=2006 , year_published= , edition= , editor= , author=Paige Hemmis , title=The Tuff Chix Guide to Easy Home Improvement , chapter= citation , genre= , publisher=Penguin , isbn=9780452287617 , page=36 , passage=TUFF METER }}
  • :* {{quote-web
    • , date=2010-01-20 , year= , first= , last= , author=Robert J. Elisberg , authorlink= , title=CES 2020 -- Ohm on the Range , site=Huffington Post citation , archiveorg= , accessdate=2012-09-14 , passage=Its Tuff'-n-Tiny USB flash drive is about the size of a thumbnail. … The company insists that the "' tuff " part of the name is well-earned for being waterproof, dustproof and you can drive a car over it. }}
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=2011 , year_published= , edition= , editor= , author=Kristian Pope , title=Tuff Stuff Professional Wrestling Field Guide: Legend and Lore , chapter= citation , genre= , publisher=Krause Publications , isbn=9781440228100 , page= , passage=Tuff Stuff Professional Wrestling }}

    References

    * Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, tuff (wikipedia tuff)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) tuffe, (tuf), from (etyl) tufo, from (etyl) .

    Noun

  • (rock) A light porous rock, now especially a rock composed of compacted volcanic ash varying in size from fine sand to coarse gravel.
  • * 2004 , (Richard Fortey), The Earth , Folio Society 2011, p. 9n:
    • This is what makes an ignimbrite; the general term for this kind of volcaniclastic rock is ‘tuff ’.
    Related terms
    * tufflava