buffer.

1. A thing, region, or reserve placed between forces or demands to reduce impact or prevent direct conflict.

2. A region of memory that temporarily holds data while it is transferred or processed.

3. A chemical mixture that limits changes in pH when small amounts of acid or base are added.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a buffer zone
• a financial buffer
• a shock buffer

On the page

The empty warehouses formed a buffer between the homes and the loading yard.

She kept a small financial buffer against repairs the landlord never acknowledged.

Usage notes

Primary category: sci-fi. Forms: Singular buffer; plural buffers. Verb forms: buffer; buffers; buffered; buffered; buffering. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: buffers.