[? Onomatopœic; connected with some sense of BUFF; or ? misprint for bustle. ‘Buffle to puzzle, be at a loss’ in Johnson (and all subsequent Dictionaries) is bogus word, founded on the misprint of buffling for bustling.]
1610. Healey, St. Aug. Citie of God, 118. The next age Silver, under Jove, then warre began to buffle.
[1730. Swift, Vindic. Ld. Carteret, Wks. 1778, IV. 141. That poor, angry, bustling [J. prints buffling] well-meaning mortal.]
