Phrase guide

buffer car

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A nonhazardous railroad freight car in a train, typically used to separate locomotives and their crews from freight cars carrying hazardous materials.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

Topics: rail-transport, railways, transport

Examples

  • 2022, Laura Sullivan, Mark Raney, Emilio Paleo, Separation Distance of Hazardous Materials Cars and Train Crews and/or Locomotives - Literature Review (Buffer Car Research Study), United States Department of Transportation "These requirements have been universally interpreted, by both operators and regulators, to effectively require five buffer cars for manifest trains (when train length permits) and one buffer car for unit trains and when the train length does not permit."

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.