# Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another. * (mechanical) Anything used to maintain slack or isolate different objects. * (telecommunications) A routine or storage medium used to compensate for a difference in rate of flow of data, or time of occurrence of events, when transferring data from one device to another. * (rail transport) A device on trains and carriages designed to cushion the impact between them. * (rail transport) The metal barrier to help prevent trains from running off the end of the track. * An isolating circuit, often an amplifier, used to minimize the influence of a driven circuit on the driving circuit. * (politics, international relations) A buffer zone (such as a demilitarized zone) or a buffer state. * (figuratively) A gap that isolates or separates two things.
For a medical and chemical example (technical) see Wikipedia 