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shock absorber

American  

noun

Machinery.

  1. a device for damping sudden and rapid motion, as the recoil of a spring-mounted object from shock.

shock absorber British  

noun

  1. any device designed to absorb mechanical shock, esp one fitted to a motor vehicle to damp the recoil of the suspension springs

"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

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

“In a perfect world,” Velis said, the SRF would be the shock absorber, where you are lending against good collateral to banks at the auction rate.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 13, 2025

These findings also call for revising the role of molecular unfolding, updating the traditional view that it functions as a mechanosensor and a shock absorber when molecules unfold under external force.

From Science Daily • Feb. 1, 2024

A good place to hide could be under the cars, up between the axles, balancing on a foot-wide iron shock absorber.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

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.