Buffer

English Meaning

An elastic apparatus or fender, for deadening the jar caused by the collision of bodies; as, a buffer at the end of a railroad car.

1. One that buffs, especially a piece of soft leather or cloth used to shine or polish.
2. A buffing wheel.
3. Something that lessens or absorbs the shock of an impact.
4. One that protects by intercepting or moderating adverse pressures or influences: "A sense of humor . . . may have served as a buffer against the . . . shocks of disappointment” ( James Russell Lowell).
5. Something that separates potentially antagonistic entities, as an area between two rival powers that serves to lessen the danger of conflict.
6. Chemistry A substance that minimizes change in the acidity of a solution when an acid or base is added to the solution.
7. Computer Science A device or area used to store data temporarily.
8. To act as a buffer for or between.
9. Chemistry To treat (a solution) with a buffer.
10. Computer Science To hold or collect (data) in a buffer.