bufflehead
(ˈbʌf(ə)lhɛd)
[f. buffle + head.]
1. A fool, blockhead, stupid fellow.
| 1659 Lady Alimony i. ii. in Hazl. Dodsley XIV. 278 What a drolling bufflehead is this! 1694 Echard Plautus 48 What makes ye stare so, Bufflehead? 1718 J. Fox Wanderer xiv. 90 Tho' my Forehead is broad, you Bufflehead, it is not brazen. 1883 J. Herring iii. lvi. 225, I don't want the buffle-head to be coming here. |
2. A North American duck (Bucephala albeola), the head of which appears to be disproportionately large. U.S. Cf. buffle-headed a. 3 and buffel 1.
| 1858 S. F. Baird Birds Pacific in Rep. Explor. Railroad to Pacific (U.S. War Dept.) IX. 798 The name buffle head is a corruption of buffalo head. 1870 Amer. Naturalist IV. 49 Buffel Head (Bucephala albeola Baird). 1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl Shooting Introd. 16 In the deep water varieties..I shall treat of the..buffle-head or butter-ball. |