buff vs shine

buff

verb
  • To polish and make shiny by rubbing. 

  • To strike. 

  • To make a character or an item stronger. 

  • To modify a medical chart, especially in a dishonest manner. 

noun
  • Any substance used to dilute (street) drugs in order to increase profits. 

  • Undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals. 

  • A military coat made of buff leather. 

  • A buffalo, or the meat of a buffalo. 

  • The greyish viscid substance constituting the buffy coat. 

  • Compressive coupler force that occurs during a slack bunched condition. 

  • A brownish yellow colour. 

  • A tool, often one covered with buff leather, used for polishing. 

  • A person who is very interested in a particular subject. 

  • An effect that makes a character or item stronger. 

  • The bare skin. 

adj
  • Of the color of buff leather, a brownish yellow. 

  • Physically attractive. 

  • Unusually muscular. 

shine

verb
  • To cause (something) to shine; put a shine on (something); polish (something). 

  • To polish a cricket ball using saliva and one’s clothing. 

  • To emit or reflect light so as to glow. 

  • To be effulgent in splendour or beauty. 

  • To distinguish oneself; to excel. 

  • To be immediately apparent. 

  • To create light with (a flashlight, lamp, torch, or similar). 

  • To be eminent, conspicuous, or distinguished; to exhibit brilliant intellectual powers. 

  • To reflect light. 

  • To cause to shine, as a light or by reflected light. 

noun
  • Shoeshine. 

  • Brightness from reflected light. 

  • Excellence in quality or appearance; splendour. 

  • Brightness from a source of light. 

  • Moonshine; illicitly brewed alcoholic drink. 

  • Sunshine. 

  • A liking for a person; a fancy. 

  • The amount of shininess on a cricket ball, or on each side of the ball. 

How often have the words buff and shine occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )