buffer
/ˈbʌfəɹ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.78 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Comparative form of buff: more buff.
Example Sentences
- "Such a buffer as Donnelly, / Ereland never again will see."
- "1885, W. S. Gilbert, The Mikado, Act II, in The Mikado, and Other Plays, New York: Modern Library, 1917, p. 42, https://archive.org/details/mikadootherplays00gilb The idiot who, in railway carriages, / Scribbles on window panes, / We only suffer / To ride on a buffer / In Parliamentary trains."
- "The underframe, which has been designed to take buffing loads of 200 tons both on the centre coupler and on the retractable side buffers, consists of two centre girders from which cantilevers project to support the solebars, which in turn carry the bodyside structure."
- "Then, with a shock like a thousand goods trains crashing into a thousand pairs of buffers, the lips of rock closed."
- "Of course, I was not always right. I questioned the value of Crossrail (a scheme revived by Prescott after being scrapped by the Conservatives), suggesting wrongly that it may be "doomed to hit the buffers" […]. A dozen years later, I published my book on it, extolling the line's wonders. We are all allowed to change our minds."
- "I keep a savings buffer of three months' worth of living expenses."
Etymology
From buff + -er.
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbʌfəɹ/
- British English: /ˈbʌfə/