Past tense of buffalo; tricked or intimidated someone into doing something they didn't want to do.
From 'buffalo' (the animal), originally from Portuguese 'bufalo' via Italian 'bufalo' from Latin 'bubalus'. The verb sense emerged in 19th-century American English, possibly from the animal's intimidating appearance and charging behavior.
The verb 'buffalo' shows how animal names can become verbs describing human behavior—similar to how we 'hawk' things or 'dog' someone's steps. It reveals how frontier settlers borrowed animal characteristics as metaphors for social tactics.
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