Word.ws English Dictionary

buff out

buff out verb: to remove paint or light scratches from the surface by friction, wearing it out by polishing or blasting with sand or by employing some similar method.

Verb

buff out (third-person singular simple present buffs out, present participle buffing out, simple past and past participle buffed out)

  1. (transitive) To remove paint or light scratches from the surface by friction, wearing it out by polishing or blasting with sand or by employing some similar method.
    • Other carriers buff out their fuselages instead of painting them, reasoning that cracks can hide under layers of thick exterior paint.1992, Diana Fairechild, Jet Smart
    • But I think that it is an act of barbarism to color sand and buff out acrylic enamels in restoration work.2005, Collector Car Restoration Bible: Practical Techniques For Professional Results, page 357
  2. (figuratively, transitive) To bring something to proper shape by removing or masking minor defects, by straightening out the residual shortcomings.
    • Nevertheless, if a man has the salesman's qualifications, a little scientific study of salesmanship will sandpaper him, buff out his inequalities and make him a better man.1914, Fra Magazine, volume Fra Magazine: A Journal of Affirmation, January 1914 to June 1914, page 178
    • Like everybody I've met, he spoke exquisite English, right down to the American syntax, as if he wanted to buff out his German cultural ties. That's common too.1983, Marie Brenner, Intimate distance

Examples of buff out in a sentence

  • Sammy, There are products on the market designed to buff out scratches in glass, not a wax but a rubbing compound much like jeweler's rouge, a fine jewelry-buffing compound.2010, How to Make Your Car Last Forever: Avoid Expensive Repairs, Improve Fuel Economy, Understand Your Warranty, Save Money, page 131:
  • So, the momentum alone has been built up quite well for Wimbledon and Nadal still has roughly one week to buff out the rough spots on grass.2012, Bleacher Report, Rafael Nadal: Early Exit at Gerry Weber Means Nothing Heading into Wimbledon:

Forms of buff out

third-person singular presentbuffs out
present participlebuffing out
past participlebuffed out
pastbuffed out

Questions about buff out

What does buff out mean?
Buff out means to remove paint or light scratches from the surface by friction, wearing it out by polishing or blasting with sand or by employing some similar method.
How do you use buff out in a sentence?
Sammy, There are products on the market designed to buff out scratches in glass, not a wax but a rubbing compound much like jeweler's rouge, a fine jewelry-buffing compound.
What part of speech is buff out?
Buff out is a verb.
What is the past tense of buff out?
The past tense of buff out is buffed out.

Words near buff out in the dictionary

  1. buff coats
  2. buff down
  3. buff jerkin
  4. buff jerkins
  5. buff nor stye
  6. buff out
  7. Buff Point
  8. buff the muffin
  9. buff up
  10. buff wheel
  11. buff wheels

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: buff out (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-buff out.ogg.

Cite this entry: “buff out.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/buff_out. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.