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buffet

Pronunciation: /ˈbʊf.eɪ/

The English word “buffet” has 10 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A counter or sideboard from which food and drinks are served or may be bought.
  2. Food laid out in this way, to which diners serve themselves.
  3. A small low stool; a hassock.
  4. A blow or cuff with or as if with the hand, or by any other solid object or the wind.
  5. The vibration of an aircraft when flying in or approaching a stall, caused by separation of airflow from the aircraft's wings.

verb

  1. To strike with a buffet; to cuff; to slap.
  2. To aggressively challenge, denounce, or criticise.
  3. To affect as with blows; to strike repeatedly; to strive with or contend against.
  4. To deaden the sound of (bells) by muffling the clapper.
  5. To struggle, contend; also in figurative or extended use: to move as if driven by force.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English buffet (“stool”), from Middle French buffet (“side table”), from Old French buffet, of unknown origin. The modern pronunciation is remodelled after modern French buffet.

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