n.
- One that buffs, especially a piece of soft leather or cloth used to shine or polish.
- A buffing wheel.
buff·er2 (bŭf'ər)
n.
- Something that lessens or absorbs the shock of an impact.
- 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).
- Something that separates potentially antagonistic entities, as an area between two rival powers that serves to lessen the danger of conflict.
- Chemistry. A substance that minimizes change in the acidity of a solution when an acid or base is added to the solution.
- Computer Science. A device or area used to store data temporarily.
- To act as a buffer for or between.
- Chemistry. To treat (a solution) with a buffer.
- Computer Science. To hold or collect (data) in a buffer.
[Probably from obsolete buff, to make a sound like a soft body being hit, of imitative origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
