puffer

n 1: delicacy that is highly dangerous because of a potent nerve

poison in ovaries and liver [syn: {blowfish}, {sea squab}]

2: any of numerous marine fishes whose elongated spiny body can

inflate itself with water or air to form a globe; several

species contain a potent nerve poison; closely related to

spiny puffers [syn: {blowfish}, {globefish}]

buffer

1. An area of memory used for storing messages. Typically, a

buffer will have other attributes such as an input pointer

(where new data will be written into the buffer), and output

pointer (where the next item will be read from) and/or a count

of the space used or free. Buffers are used to decouple

processes so that the reader and writer may operate at

different speeds or on different sized blocks of data.

There are many different algorithms for using buffers, e.g.

first-in first-out (FIFO or shelf), last-in first-out (LIFO or

stack), double buffering (allowing one buffer to be read while

the other is being written), cyclic buffer (reading or writing

past the end wraps around to the beginning).

2. An electronic device to provide compatibility between two

signals, e.g. changing voltage levels or current capability.