buffer
noun /ˈbʌfə(r)/
/ˈbʌfər/
Idioms - a thing or person that reduces a shock or protects somebody/something against difficulties
- buffer against something Support from family and friends acts as a buffer against stress.
- buffer between A and B She often had to act as a buffer between father and son.
- The organization acts as a buffer between the management and the union.
- a buffer state (= a small country between two powerful states that helps keep peace between them)
- a buffer zone (= an area of land between two opposing armies or countries)
- Peacekeepers have been sent in to establish a buffer zone between the rival forces.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + buffer- act as
- provide
- use something as
- …
- state
- zone
- buffer against
- buffer between
- (British English) one of two round metal devices on the front or end of a train, or at the end of a railway track, that reduce the shock if the train hits somethingTopics Transport by bus and trainc2
- (computing) an area in a computer’s memory where data can be stored for a short time
- (also old buffer)(British English, old-fashioned) a silly old man
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 2 mid 19th cent.: probably from obsolete buff (verb), imitative of the sound of a blow to a soft body. noun sense 3 mid 18th cent.: probably from obsolete buff (imitative of the sound of a blow to a soft body), or from dialect buff ‘stutter, splutter’ (possibly the same word). In late Middle English buffer had the sense ‘stammerer’.
Idioms
hit the buffers
- (informal) if a plan, somebody’s career, etc. hits the buffers, it suddenly stops being successful
- The former tennis star’s comeback trail hit the buffers yesterday when she lost in straight sets.