What does "buffer" mean?
Someone or something that buffs (polishes and makes shiny).; A machine with rotary brushes, passed over a hard floor to clean it.
Buffer
/ˈbʌfə(ɹ)/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Someone or something that buffs (polishes and makes shiny).; A machine with rotary brushes, passed over a hard floor to clean it.
- Grammar: buffer is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: acid base buffer, aegis, allow room, allowance.
- Useful contrasts: amplify, direct contact, direct transfer.
- Usage evidence: We should not use foreign workers as a buffer against Japan's economic slowdown.
How to use "buffer"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "buffer" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "buffer" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "buffer" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "buffer" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "buffer" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "acid base buffer" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "buffer", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Someone or something that buffs (polishes and makes shiny).; A machine with rotary brushes, passed over a hard floor to clean it.
- 2 Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another.; A solution used to stabilize the pH (acidity) of a liquid, such as by resisting a change in pH when an acid or alkali is added.
- 3 A good-humoured, slow-witted fellow, usually an elderly man. colloquial
"Lastly, the looking-glass reflects Boots and Brewer, and two other stuffed Buffers interposed between the rest of the company and possible accidents."
- 4 A dog. UK, dated, slang
"Who does not remember that adorable little dog, and that last Christmas season at Olympia, when the Whimmy we had all loved had been dead a month or so, and his buffer ran disconsolately round the circus, pining […]"
- 5 an implement consisting of soft material mounted on a block; used for polishing (as in manicuring) wordnet
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 Someone or something that buffs (polishes and makes shiny).; A machine for polishing shoes and boots.
- 7 Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another.; Anything used to maintain slack or isolate different objects.
- 8 a cushion-like device that reduces shock due to an impact wordnet
- 9 A boxer. Ireland, archaic, slang
"Such a buffer as Donnelly, / Ereland never again will see."
- 10 Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another.; A device on trains and carriages designed to cushion the impact between them.
"1885, W. S. Gilbert, The Mikado, Act II, in The Mikado, and Other Plays, New York: Modern Library, 1917, p. 42, https://archive.org/details/mikadootherplays00gilb The idiot who, in railway carriages, / Scribbles on window panes, / We only suffer / To ride on a buffer / In Parliamentary trains."
- 11 a power tool used to buff surfaces wordnet
- 12 Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another.; The barrier placed at the end of the track to absorb the impact of a train that fails to stop.
"Of course, I was not always right. I questioned the value of Crossrail (a scheme revived by Prescott after being scrapped by the Conservatives), suggesting wrongly that it may be "doomed to hit the buffers" […]. A dozen years later, I published my book on it, extolling the line's wonders. We are all allowed to change our minds."
- 13 (computer science) a part of RAM used for temporary storage of data that is waiting to be sent to a device; used to compensate for differences in the rate of flow of data between components of a computer system wordnet
- 14 Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another.; An isolating circuit, often an amplifier, used to minimize the influence of a driven circuit on the driving circuit.
- 15 an inclined metal frame at the front of a locomotive to clear the track wordnet
- 16 Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another.; A routine or storage medium used to compensate for a difference in rate of flow of data, or time of occurrence of events, when transferring data from one device to another.
- 17 a neutral zone between two rival powers that is created in order to diminish the danger of conflict wordnet
- 18 Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another.; A portion of memory set aside to temporarily store data, often before it is sent to an external device or as it is received from an external device.
- 19 (chemistry) an ionic compound that resists changes in its pH wordnet
- 20 Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another.; A buffer zone (such as a demilitarized zone) or a buffer state.
- 21 Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another.; A reserve of funds set aside for use only when adverse circumstances prevail.
"I keep a savings buffer of three months' worth of living expenses."
- 22 Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another.; A gap that isolates or separates two things. figuratively
"An utterly emphatic 5-0 victory was ultimately capped by two wonder strikes in the last two minutes from Aston Villa midfielder Gary Gardner. Before that, England had utterly dominated to take another purposeful stride towards the 2013 European Championship in Israel. They have already established a five-point buffer at the top of Group Eight."
- 23 The chief boatswain's mate. UK, slang
"He decided to run for president of the POs' Mess against the Buffer, Chief Bosun's Mate Mal Crane, but the two had a face-to-face in his cabin one night in Narvik and sorted it out."
Verb
- 1 To use a buffer or buffers; to isolate or minimize the effects of one thing on another.
"The electronic apparatus is designed to buffer up the sorted wagons in the sidings at a speed not exceeding 4.7 m.p.h.—a particularly important provision in this yard, with its substantial traffic in whisky."
- 2 add a buffer (a solution) wordnet
- 3 To use a buffer or buffers; to isolate or minimize the effects of one thing on another.; To queue up (an input) so that it is performed immediately once it is possible.
"Some games let you buffer jumps—if you hold the jump button mid-air, your character will jump as soon as they touch the ground."
- 4 protect from impact wordnet
- 5 To store (data) in memory temporarily while it is awaiting processing. intransitive, transitive
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To maintain the acidity of a solution near a chosen value by adding an acid or a base.
Adjective
- 1 Comparative form of buff: more buff. comparative, form-of
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"We should not use foreign workers as a buffer against Japan's economic slowdown."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "buffer"?
Common synonyms include: acid base buffer, aegis, allow room, allowance, amortizer, annul.
How do you use "buffer" in a sentence?
We should not use foreign workers as a buffer against Japan's economic slowdown.
How do you pronounce "buffer"?
Pronounced /ˈbʌfə(ɹ)/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From buff + -er.
Etymology 2
Agent noun from obsolete verb buff (“make a dull sound when struck”) (mid-16c.), from Old French buffe (“blow”). The “boatswain's mate” sense is said to be popularly explained by the mate being a “buffer”, that is intermediary, between officers and men, but various other explanations have also been proposed.
Etymology 3
In reference to buff leather.