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Showing results for shock absorber. Search instead for shock-absorbent.
Synonyms

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.

Savers accept lower returns to own risk-free Treasury debt because it usually acts as a shock absorber.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

“We don’t have quite the shock absorber that we used to have,” Croft said in an interview.

From Barron's • Jan. 14, 2026

“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

Hermes was now pulling Beck and Watney along, with Vogel's use of the tether acting as a shock absorber.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

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.