The Collaborative International Dictionary
Buffalo \Buf"fa*lo\, n.; pl. Buffaloes. [Sp. bufalo (cf. It. bufalo, F. buffle), fr. L. bubalus, bufalus, a kind of African stag or gazelle; also, the buffalo or wild ox, fr. Gr. ? buffalo, prob. fr. ? ox. See Cow the animal, and cf. Buff the color, and Bubale.]
(Zo["o]l.) A species of the genus Bos or Bubalus ( Bubalus bubalus), originally from India, but now found in most of the warmer countries of the eastern continent. It is larger and less docile than the common ox, and is fond of marshy places and rivers.
(Zo["o]l.) A very large and savage species of the same genus ( Syncerus Caffer syn. Bubalus Caffer) found in South Africa; -- called also Cape buffalo.
(Zo["o]l.) Any species of wild ox.
(Zo["o]l.) The bison of North America.
A buffalo robe. See Buffalo robe, below.
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(Zo["o]l.) The buffalo fish. See Buffalofish, below.
Buffalo berry (Bot.), a shrub of the Upper Missouri ( Sherherdia argentea) with acid edible red berries.
Buffalo bird (Zo["o]l.), an African bird of the genus Buphaga, of two species. These birds perch upon buffaloes and cattle, in search of parasites.
Buffalo bug, the carpet beetle. See under Carpet.
Buffalo chips, dry dung of the buffalo, or bison, used for fuel. [U.S.]
Buffalo clover (Bot.), a kind of clover ( Trifolium reflexum and Trifoliumsoloniferum) found in the ancient grazing grounds of the American bison.
Buffalo cod (Zo["o]l.), a large, edible, marine fish ( Ophiodon elongatus) of the northern Pacific coast; -- called also blue cod, and cultus cod.
Buffalo fly, or Buffalo gnat (Zo["o]l.), a small dipterous insect of the genus Simulium, allied to the black fly of the North. It is often extremely abundant in the lower part of the Mississippi valley and does great injury to domestic animals, often killing large numbers of cattle and horses. In Europe the Columbatz fly is a species with similar habits.
Buffalo grass (Bot.), a species of short, sweet grass ( Buchlo["e] dactyloides), from two to four inches high, covering the prairies on which the buffaloes, or bisons, feed. [U.S.]
Buffalo nut (Bot.), the oily and drupelike fruit of an American shrub ( Pyrularia oleifera); also, the shrub itself; oilnut.
Buffalo robe, the skin of the bison of North America, prepared with the hair on; -- much used as a lap robe in sleighs.
Cape \Cape\ (k[=a]p), n. [F. cap, fr. It. capo head, cape, fr. L. caput heat, end, point. See Chief.] A piece or point of land, extending beyond the adjacent coast into the sea or a lake; a promontory; a headland.
Cape buffalo (Zo["o]l.) a large and powerful buffalo of South Africa ( Bubalus Caffer). It is said to be the most dangerous wild beast of Africa. See Buffalo, 2.
Cape jasmine, Cape jessamine. See Jasmine.
Cape pigeon (Zo["o]l.), a petrel ( Daptium Capense) common off the Cape of Good Hope. It is about the size of a pigeon.
Cape wine, wine made in South Africa [Eng.]
The Cape, the Cape of Good Hope, in the general sense of the southern extremity of Africa. Also used of Cape Horn, and, in New England, of Cape Cod.
Usage examples of "cape buffalo".
The longest wall had been set aside for stuffed animal heads: a Cape buffalo, a bighorn sheep, a mule deer, a bull elk, a timber wolf and a Canadian lynx.
Gandang's amadoda surrounded a herd of Cape buffalo, and drove them down in a bellowing, stampeding black wave to where they waited.
He dreamt happily of travelling with her to the hunting-fields of the world: Russia for the sheep of Marco Polo, Canada for the polar bear, Brazil for the spotted jaguar, and to Tanzania for the great Cape buffalo with a spread of horn over fifty inches wide.
She'd nearly let a Cape Buffalo kill her because she was too busy thinking how picturesque it was to realize her danger.
Each day they met new species of wild animals: sable antelope, black as night with long scimitar horns that swept back almost to their hind quarters, and Cape buffalo with mournful drooping heads of massively bossed horn stinking like herds of domestic cattle.
A magnificent set of Cape buffalo horns above the fireplace dominated the room with their great crenellated bosses and wide sweep to the tips.
Augustine got on the telephone to sort out what had happened with his dead uncle's Cape buffalo.
But it was possessed of the brute strength of a hundred' leopards The lion will growl before he charges, the elephant will turn under the punishment of heavy bullets in the chest, but the Cape buffalo comes and in silence, and only one thing will stop his charge that is death.