BUFFING
Verb
buffing
present participle of buff
Noun
buffing (plural buffings)
Material removed by the action of someone who buffs.
the burning machine for blowing dirt and buffings off the work
Source: Wiktionary
BUFF
Buff, n. Etym: [OE. buff, buffe, buff, buffalo, F. buffle buffalo.
See Buffalo.]
1. A sort of leather, prepared from the skin of the buffalo, dressed
with oil, like chamois; also, the skins of oxen, elks, and other
animals, dressed in like manner. "A suit of buff." Shak.
2. The color to buff; a light yellow, shading toward pink, gray, or
brown.
A visage rough, Deformed, unfeatured, and a skin of buff. Dryden.
3. A military coat, made of buff leather. Shak.
4. (Med.)
Definition: The grayish viscid substance constituting the buffy coat. See
Buffy coat, under Buffy, a.
5. (Mech.)
Definition: A wheel covered with buff leather, and used in polishing
cutlery, spoons, etc.
6. The bare skin; as, to strip to the buff. [Colloq.]
To be in buff is equivalent to being naked. Wright.
Buff, a.
1. Made of buff leather. Goldsmith.
2. Of the color of buff. Buff coat, a close, military outer garment,
with short sleeves, and laced tightly over the chest, made of buffalo
skin, or other thick and elastic material, worn by soldiers in the
17th century as a defensive covering.
– Buff jerkin, originally, a leather waistcoat; afterward, one of
cloth of a buff color. [Obs.] Nares.
– Buff stick (Mech.), a strip of wood covered with buff leather,
used in polishing.
Buff, v. t.
Definition: To polish with a buff. See Buff, n., 5.
Buff, v. t. Etym: [OF. bufer to cuff, buffet. See Buffet a blow.]
Definition: To strike. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
Buff, n. Etym: [See Buffet.]
Definition: A buffet; a blow; -- obsolete except in the phrase "Blindman's
buff."
Nathless so sore a buff to him it lent That made him reel. Spenser.
Buff, a. Etym: [Of uncertain etymol.]
Definition: Firm; sturdy.
And for the good old cause stood buff, 'Gainst many a bitter kick and
cuff. Hudibras.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition