buffer

¹ American  

[buhf-er] / ˈbʌf ər /

noun

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

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

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

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

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

6. buffer state.

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

8. 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.

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

10. Chemistry.

    1. 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.

    2. Also called buffer solution. a solution containing such a substance.

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verb (used with object)

• buffers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• buffered,
  past participle,  past
• buffering
  present participle

1. Chemistry. to treat with a buffer.

2. to cushion, shield, or protect.

3. to lessen the adverse effect of; ease.

   The drug buffered his pain.

4. Digital Technology. to temporarily save (data) before actively accessing it so that it can be loaded at a rapid or uniform rate: You’ll get a load screen while the game buffers those high-resolution graphics.

   Give the app time to buffer the audio when you are streaming music.

   You’ll get a load screen while the game buffers those high-resolution graphics.

buffer ² American  

[buhf-er] / ˈbʌf ər /

noun

1. a device for polishing or buffing, as a buff stick or buff wheel.

2. a worker who uses such a device.

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buffer ³ American  

[buhf-er] / ˈbʌf ər /

noun

British Slang.

1. a foolish or incompetent person.

2. a fellow; man.

3. a chief boatswain's mate in the British navy.

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buffer ¹ British  

/ ˈbʌfə /

noun

1. informal a stupid or bumbling man (esp in the phrase old buffer )

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buffer ² British  

/ ˈbʌfə /

noun

1. 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

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

3. chem

   1. 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

   2. Also called: buffer solution. a solution containing such a compound

4. computing a memory device for temporarily storing data

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

6. short for buffer state

7. informal to finish or be stopped, esp unexpectedly

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verb

1. to insulate against or protect from shock; cushion

2. chem to add a buffer to (a solution)

buffer ³ British  

/ ˈbʌfə /

noun

1. any device used to shine, polish, etc; buff

2. a person who uses such a device

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buffer Scientific  

/ bŭf′ər /

1. 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.

2. 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.

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buffer Cultural  

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

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Discover More

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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unbuffered
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• buffering
  present
• buffered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• buffer
  simple
• buffers
  simple
• have buffered
  perfect
• has buffered
  perfect
• am buffering
  progressive
• are buffering
  progressive
• is buffering
  progressive
• have been buffering
  perfect progressive
• has been buffering
  perfect progressive

Past

• buffered
  simple
• had buffered
  perfect
• was buffering
  progressive
• were buffering
  progressive
• had been buffering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will buffer
  simple
• will have buffered
  perfect
• will be buffering
  progressive
• will have been buffering
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of buffer¹

First recorded in 1825–35; buff ² + -er ¹

Origin of buffer²

First recorded in 1850–55; buff ¹ + -er ¹

Origin of buffer³

First recorded in 1745–50; origin uncertain

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Explanation

A buffer is an object that either softens a blow like a fender, or helps buff or shine stuff, like a nail buffer. Buffer comes from the Old French buff, a word that imitates the sound of a blow to a soft body. A person can also be a buffer if she keeps people prone to fighting from coming in contact or hurting each other, like a teacher who separates two rowdy kids at the lunch table. A buffer state is a country between two conflicting ones that helps them better get along by creating a buffer between them — like Mongolia is for China and Russia.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

buffer buffers buffered buffering

“Wide sandy beaches serve as a necessary buffer to protect the rail line.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

That is the cash buffer the government has to help meet its own fiscal rules and reduce borrowing.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

It also sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the mainly Israeli-occupied Golan Heights since 1974.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

Carmakers normally build buffer stocks before factories are reworked for a new model.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

Even so, a few days was better than nothing—I needed any buffer I could get—and my mom was busting at the seams in anticipation of seeing her baby boy again, as she kept saying.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez

Varian Perception reversed from risk-on to risk-off based somewhat on buffers provided by strong earnings.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

“Some of the buffers that helped contain crude oil prices are ebbing,” McNally told MarketWatch by email Monday from Riyadh, where he was attending the 17th International Energy Forum.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

He said he would seek to leverage tax dollars to help communities better prepare for wildfires, creating buffers and hardening structures because of wildfires that will inevitably occur in certain communities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

It's possible that a global AI race travelling at Silicon Valley's top speeds could be about to hit the buffers of very localised political and environmental concerns.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

The carriages are mounted on bogies, and have been completely equipped with carriage springs, grease boxes for the axles, spring buffers, draw-bars and screw couplings right and left.

From The Harmsworth Magazine, v. 1, 1898-1899, No. 2 by Various

"The people who are responsible for doing this in the first place seem to have got away from it, they seem to be protected and buffered and inured," Sheen said.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

Just look at the performance of the largest buffered ETF in the last bear market.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

So far prices have been modulated in financial markets by expectations of an imminent settlement and buffered in the physical market by the drawing down of inventories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

Despite the considerable hype surrounding these buffered ETFs, Crill has found their risk-reward profile to be substantially similar to the 60/40 portfolio.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026

The northern side of 141st Street was buffered by brownstones standing shoulder to shoulder, as if marching in formation.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

It would have the right to sell that compute power at a specific price by a stated date, buffering itself from a steeper hit to profits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026

These links, used by Kiran and his friends, have practical downsides – such as frequent buffering or poor quality, or platforms that disappear without warning.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

By buffering those short-term fluctuations, the kidney might help maintain a more consistent individual chemical profile in urine.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Still, as I shuffled papers, I became part of the buffering, incomplete chain of communication.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

I've looked at a lot of code for electronic buffering.

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan

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Related Words

• bulwark
• cushion
• intermediary

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