buffeter
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buf·fet 1
(bə-fā′, bo͞o-)n.
1. A large sideboard with drawers and cupboards.
2.
a. A counter or table from which meals or refreshments are served.
b. A restaurant having such a counter.
3. A meal at which guests serve themselves from various dishes displayed on a table or sideboard.
adj.
Informally served: a buffet luncheon.
[French.]
buf·fet 2
(bŭf′ĭt)n.
A blow or cuff with or as if with the hand.
v. buf·fet·ed, buf·fet·ing, buf·fets
v.tr.
1. To hit or beat, especially repeatedly.
2. To strike against forcefully and especially repeatedly; batter: winds that buffeted the tent. See Synonyms at beat.
3. To cause repeated difficulty or harm to (a person or group): was buffeted about from job to job by the vagaries of the economy.
4. To force (one's way) with difficulty.
v.intr.
To force one's way with difficulty: a ship buffeting against the wind.
[Middle English, from Old French, diminutive of buffe, blow.]
buf′fet·er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.