buffet Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a piece of furniture that stands at the side of a dining room; has shelves and drawers
    sideboard; counter.
  2. noun a meal set out on a buffet at which guests help themselves
  3. noun usually inexpensive bar
    snack bar; snack counter.
  4. verb strike against forcefully
    batter; knock about.
    • Winds buffeted the tent
  5. verb strike, beat repeatedly
    buff.
    • The wind buffeted him

WordNet

Buf*fet" noun
Etymology
F. buffet, LL. bufetum; of uncertain origin; perh. fr. the same source as E. buffet a blow, the root meaning to puff, hence (cf. puffed up) the idea of ostentation or display.
Definitions
  1. A cupboard or set of shelves, either movable or fixed at one side of a room, for the display of plate, china, etc., a sideboard.
    Not when a gilt buffet's reflected pride Turns you from sound philosophy aside. Pope.
  2. A counter for refreshments; a restaurant at a railroad station, or place of public gathering.
Buf"fet noun
Etymology
OE. buffet, boffet, OF. buffet a slap in the face, a pair of bellows, fr. buffe blow, cf. F. bouffer to blow, puff; prob. akin to E. puff. For the meaning slap, blow, cf. F. soufflet a slap, souffler to blow. See Puff, v. i., and cf. Buffet sidebroad, Buffoon
Definitions
  1. A blow with the hand; a slap on the face; a cuff.
    When on his cheek a buffet fell. Sir W. Scott.
  2. A blow from any source, or that which affects like a blow, as the violence of winds or waves; a stroke; an adverse action; an affliction; a trial; adversity.
    Those planks of tough and hardy oak that used for yeas to brave the buffets of the Bay of Biscay. Burke.
    Fortune's buffets and rewards. Shak.
  3. A small stool; a stool for a buffet or counter.
    Go fetch us a light buffet. Townely Myst.
Buf"fet transitive verb
Etymology
OE. buffeten, OF. buffeter. See the preceding noun.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Buffeted; present participle & verbal noun Buffeting
Definitions
  1. To strike with the hand or fist; to box; to beat; to cuff; to slap.
    They spit in his face and buffeted him. Matt. xxvi. 67.
  2. To affect as with blows; to strike repeatedly; to strive with or contend against; as, to buffet the billows.
    The sudden hurricane in thunder roars, Buffets the bark, and whirls it from the shores. Broome.
    You are lucky fellows who can live in a dreamland of your own, instead of being buffeted about the world. W. Black.
  3. Cf. Buffer. To deaden the sound of (bells) by muffling the clapper.
Buf"fet intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To exercise or play at boxing; to strike; to smite; to strive; to contend.
    If I might buffet for my love, or bound my horse for her favors, I could lay on like a butcher. Shak.
  2. To make one's way by blows or struggling.
    Strove to buffet to land in vain. Tennyson.

Webster 1913