Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Buffet \Buf"fet\ (b[u^]f"f[e^]t), n. [OE. buffet, boffet, OF.
   buffet a slap in the face, a pair of bellows, fr. buffe blow,
   cf. F. bouffer to blow, puff; prob. akin to E. puff. For the
   meaning slap, blow, cf. F. soufflet a slap, souffler to blow.
   See {Puff}, v. i., and cf. {Buffet} sidebroad, {Buffoon}]
   1. A blow with the hand; a slap on the face; a cuff.

            When on his cheek a buffet fell.      --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.

   2. A blow from any source, or that which affects like a blow,
      as the violence of winds or waves; a stroke; an adverse
      action; an affliction; a trial; adversity.

            Those planks of tough and hardy oak that used for
            yeas to brave the buffets of the Bay of Biscay.
                                                  --Burke.

            Fortune's buffets and rewards.        --Shak.

   3. A small stool; a stool for a buffet or counter.

            Go fetch us a light buffet.           --Townely
                                                  Myst.

Buffet \Buf*fet"\ (b[oo^]f*f[=a]"), n. [F. buffet, LL. bufetum;
   of uncertain origin; perh. fr. the same source as E. buffet a
   blow, the root meaning to puff, hence (cf. puffed up) the
   idea of ostentation or display.]
   1. A cupboard or set of shelves, either movable or fixed at
      one side of a room, for the display of plate, china, etc.,
      a sideboard.

            Not when a gilt buffet's reflected pride Turns you
            from sound philosophy aside.          --Pope.

   2. A counter for refreshments; a restaurant at a railroad
      station, or place of public gathering.

Buffet \Buf"fet\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Buffeted}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Buffeting}.] [OE. buffeten, OF. buffeter. See the
   preceding noun.]
   1. To strike with the hand or fist; to box; to beat; to cuff;
      to slap.

            They spit in his face and buffeted him. --Matt.
                                                  xxvi. 67.

   2. To affect as with blows; to strike repeatedly; to strive
      with or contend against; as, to buffet the billows.

            The sudden hurricane in thunder roars, Buffets the
            bark, and whirls it from the shores.  --Broome.

            You are lucky fellows who can live in a dreamland of
            your own, instead of being buffeted about the world.
                                                  --W. Black.

   3. [Cf. {Buffer}.] To deaden the sound of (bells) by muffling
      the clapper.

Buffet \Buf"fet\, v. i.
   1. To exercise or play at boxing; to strike; to smite; to
      strive; to contend.

            If I might buffet for my love, or bound my horse for
            her favors, I could lay on like a butcher. --Shak.

   2. To make one's way by blows or struggling.

            Strove to buffet to land in vain.     --Tennyson.

Source : WordNet®

buffet
     n 1: a piece of furniture that stands at the side of a dining
          room; has shelves and drawers [syn: {counter}, {sideboard}]
     2: a meal set out on a buffet at which guests help themselves
     3: usually inexpensive bar [syn: {snack bar}, {snack counter}]
     v 1: strike against forcefully; "Winds buffeted the tent" [syn: {knock
          about}, {batter}]
     2: strike, beat repeatedly; "The wind buffeted him" [syn: {buff}]