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💾 Temporary storage 🌍 Separation area 🛡️ Shock absorber 🛡️ To protect 🧪 pH stabilizer 🧽 Polishing tool 🧪 To stabilize pH
buffer

buffer

19 5.2
An area of land between two groups to reduce the chance of fighting
  • noun
  • /ˈbʌfər/
translation icon : zona de amortiguamiento
  • But Patty Kay wanted a buffer area between the historic houses and commercial development.
  • a buffer zone
  • serve as a buffer
  • a buffer area

And Ukraine is a buffer zone or a buffer nation, and it's rapidly becoming more Westernized.

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Examples

  • For example, encroachments into the buffer zone are a constant theme in partitioned Cyprus.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Troop movements and exercises near the buffer zone are frequent occurrences.

    Academic text (1995)

  • We are living in a buffer zone.

    Beasts of No Nation (2015)

  • You picked a good night to cross through the buffer zone.

    5 Days of War (2011)

  • The "hard" approach makes UN control of the buffer zone the central issue.

    Academic text (1995)

  • But talk of raising water levels and creating buffer zones has local farmers up in arms.

    Academic text (1994)

  • And Ukraine is a buffer zone or a buffer nation, and it's rapidly becoming more Westernized.

    Triggernometry

  • And then this UN buffer zone which locks within its boundaries the airport, along with people's homes, businesses and farms.

  • The Italian Kingdom of Piedmont had been set up as a kind of neutral buffer state so that Austria and France didn't have to share a border.

  • The armistice set up the DMZ as a buffer zone to keep the two sides apart.

Synonyms

buffer zone
vsbuffer
8 4.4

An area between two sides that reduces conflict and harm

is the general name for such separating land areas
buffer state
vsbuffer
1 6.8

A small neutral country between two larger rival countries that reduces the risk of war

is about a separating land area rather than an independent political unit
buffer country
vsbuffer
6.8

A small neutral state that lies between two rival powers to reduce conflict

focuses on a physical separating area not necessarily a sovereign entity

Compounds

buffer zone
8 4.4

An area between two sides that reduces conflict and harm

buffer state
1 6.8

A small neutral country between two larger rival countries that reduces the risk of war

bicarbonate buffer solution
  • Specialized
4.5

A liquid that helps keep acidity stable in body and lab tests

buffer country
6.8

A small neutral state that lies between two rival powers to reduce conflict

buffer solution
  • Specialized
4.4

A liquid that keeps acidity about the same when acids or bases are added

buffer storage
  • Specialized
5.1

A part of computer memory that temporarily holds data during transfer between devices

buffer store
  • Specialized
5.8

A part of a computer's memory that holds data for a short time while it moves between devices

frame buffer
  • Specialized
5.4

An area of computer memory that stores the picture shown on the screen

keyboard buffer
  • Specialized
4.8

A part of a computer's memory that stores keys you press until the computer reads them

print buffer
  • Specialized
5.6

A part of a computer that holds information waiting to be printed

phosphate buffer solution
  • Specialized
5.6

A liquid that keeps the acid level steady with phosphate

starting buffer
  • Specialized
5.4

A liquid made at the start of an experiment to keep the pH steady

How Protective

demilitarized zone
  • Formal
8 4.8
buffer
19 5.2
border
∞ 1.0
boundary
232 3.1

Surface Forms

buffer singular
buffers plural

Morphology

buffer = buff (semi-transparent) = buff + er

The geopolitical sense ('area that buffers two powers') is a metaphorical extension of 'to buffer' (to reduce impact), so the relation to the base is clear but somewhat figurative.

Etymology

Buffer originally meant something that takes a hit, from the root buff meaning 'a blow'. A buffer zone is land that stands between two powers and reduces the risk of conflict.