buffer

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Something that reduces the impact of a shock or protects one thing from another.

   Her savings acted as a buffer against the loss of her job.

2. 2
   verb

   To protect someone or something from harm or unpleasant effects.

   A good support network can buffer people from stress at work.

3. 3
   noun

   In computing, a temporary store of data while it is being moved or processed.

   The video kept pausing because the buffer could not load it fast enough.

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.

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