I. buff ‧ er 1 /ˈbʌfə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Sense 1-5, 8: Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: buff 'to hit or be hit softly' (16-19 centuries) , probably from the sound. ]
[ Sense 6: Date: 1700-1800 ; Origin: Origin unknown ]
[ Sense 7: Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ buff 2 ]
1 . PROTECTION someone or something that protects one thing or person from being harmed by another
buffer against
Eastern Europe was important to Russia as a buffer against the West.
buffer between
She often had to act as a buffer between father and son.
2 . RAILWAY one of the two special metal springs on the front or back of a train or at the end of a railway track, to take the shock if the train hits something
3 . buffer zone an area between two armies, that is intended to separate them so that they do not fight
4 . buffer state a smaller country between two larger countries, that makes war between them less likely
5 . COMPUTER a place in a computer’s memory for storing information temporarily
6 . PERSON British English old-fashioned an old man who is not good at managing things:
He’s a nice old buffer.
7 . FOR POLISHING something used to polish a surface
8 . run into/hit the buffers informal an activity or plan that hits the buffers is stopped and does not succeed
II. buffer 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to reduce the bad effects of something:
Consumer spending is buffering the effects of the recession.
2 . if a computer buffers information, it holds it for a short while before using it