shock absorber
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of shock absorber
First recorded in 1905–10
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cash flow was significantly stronger than expected, due to lower investments, but this only acts as a partial shock absorber to the negative results, they add.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
First, China has turned itself into the world’s oil shock absorber.
From Barron's • Nov. 20, 2025
Financial markets act like a shock absorber for investment.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 14, 2025
The oligoethylene glycol units act as a type of shock absorber that adjusts to the appropriate length to make certain the shapes can fit together in a near-perfect manner.
From Science Daily • Jan. 18, 2024
The rear wheel shock absorber was loose too.
From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
