buffer

[buhf-er]

noun

an apparatus at the end of a railroad car, railroad track, etc., for absorbing shock during coupling, collisions, etc.

any device, material, or apparatus used as a shield, cushion, or bumper, especially on machinery.

any intermediate or intervening shield or device reducing the danger of interaction between two machines, chemicals, electronic components, etc.

a person or thing that shields and protects against annoyance, harm, hostile forces, etc., or that lessens the impact of a shock or reversal.

any reserve moneys, negotiable securities, legal procedures, etc., that protect a person, organization, or country against financial ruin.

buffer state.

Ecology. an animal population that becomes the prey of a predator that usually feeds on a different species.

Computers. a storage device for temporarily holding data until the computer is ready to receive or process the data, as when a receiving unit has an operating speed lower than that of the unit feeding data to it.

Electronics. a circuit with a single output activated by one or more of several inputs.

Chemistry.

any substance or mixture of compounds that, added to a solution, is capable of neutralizing both acids and bases without appreciably changing the original acidity or alkalinity of the solution.
Also called buffer solution.a solution containing such a substance.

verb (used with object)

Chemistry. to treat with a buffer.

to cushion, shield, or protect.

to lessen the adverse effect of; ease: The drug buffered his pain.

Origin of buffer

First recorded in 1825–35; buff² + -er¹

Related formsun·buff·ered, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for buffered

Contemporary Examples of buffered

Buffered and enteric-coated aspirin do not eliminate the risk of developing an ulcer.
Could a Daily Aspirin Be Deadly?
Arthur Agatston, M.D.
February 23, 2010
He told me, "There is a theme in the literature about disinhibition, a buffered sense of reality."
Anti-Depressant Nation
Adam Hanft
October 5, 2008

Historical Examples of buffered

Endowments qualify many universities as large businesses that are buffered from the reality of economics.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin
The development of high-speed, buffered, time-of-flight front ends has been a continuing interest at Columbia.
On-Line Data-Acquisition Systems in Nuclear Physics, 1969
H. W. Fulbright et al.
By such behavioral thermoregulation extremes of weather are neutralized, or at least buffered to some degree.
Natural History of the Racer Coluber constrictor
Henry S. Fitch

British Dictionary definitions for buffered

buffer

noun

one of a pair of spring-loaded steel pads attached at both ends of railway vehicles and at the end of a railway track to reduce shock due to contact

a person or thing that lessens shock or protects from damaging impact, circumstances, etc

chem

an ionic compound, usually a salt of a weak acid or base, added to a solution to resist changes in its acidity or alkalinity and thus stabilize its pH
Also called: buffer solutiona solution containing such a compound

computing a memory device for temporarily storing data

electronics an isolating circuit used to minimize the reaction between a driving and a driven circuit

short for buffer state

hit the buffers informal to finish or be stopped, esp unexpectedly

verb (tr)

to insulate against or protect from shock; cushion

chem to add a buffer to (a solution)

Word Origin for buffer

C19: from buff ²

buffer

noun

any device used to shine, polish, etc; buff

a person who uses such a device

buffer

noun

British informal, offensive a stupid or bumbling man (esp in the phrase old buffer)

Word Origin for buffer

C18: perhaps from Middle English buffer stammerer

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for buffered

buffer

1835, agent noun from obsolete verb buff "make a dull sound when struck" (mid-16c.), from Old French bufe "a blow, slap, punch" (see buffet (n.2)); hence also "something that absorbs a blow."

buffer

1894, from buffer (n.). Related: Buffered; buffering.

buffered in Medicine

buffer

[bŭf′ər]

n.

A substance that minimizes change in the acidity of a solution when an acid or base is added to the solution.

v.

To treat a solution with a buffer.

buffered in Science

buffer

[bŭf′ər]

Chemistry A substance that prevents change in the acidity of a solution when an acid or base is added to the solution or when the solution is diluted. Buffers are used to make solutions of known pH, especially for instrument calibration purposes. Natural buffers also exist in living organisms, where biochemical reactions are very sensitive to changes in pH.

Computer Science A device or an area of a computer that temporarily stores data that is being transferred between two machines that process data at different rates, such as a computer and a printer.

buffered in Culture

buffer

In chemistry, the components of a solution that can neutralize either an acid or a base and thus maintain a constant pH.

Note

Buffers are often used in medications designed to decrease acidity in the stomach.