Cushion works as both a verb and a noun. As a verb, it means reduce an impact or protect against harm. As a noun, it often means a reserve, margin, or buffer.
Verb phrase: softening an impact
As a verb, cushion pairs with the blow. It also appears with against or from: cushion against losses and cushion someone from an impact.
"We have diversified our revenue streams to cushion against the impact of the new regulations."
"Knowing the sudden factory closure would severely disrupt the community, the company provided an unprecedented two-year severance package to cushion the blow for its affected workers."
Against often introduces a risk or shock. From often introduces the harm affecting a person or thing. Actual patterns vary with the sentence structure.
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As a noun, cushion can name the reserve or margin: a financial cushion or act as a cushion.
"We maintained high cash reserves to provide a cushion for potential R&D setbacks."
"The reserve fund was specifically designed to act as a cushion against sudden shifts in market liquidity."
The surrounding context often names the risk. It need not repeat that risk in every sentence. Cushion can also describe a comfortable lead or margin.
What doesn't collocate
Cushion down the news is not a standard phrasal verb. Depending on the meaning, use soften the blow or break the news gently. Also avoid cushion employees to rising costs. Use cushion employees from or against those costs. Cushion the success is unclear unless the context names a specific margin or protective effect.
Practice scenarios
Practice using cushion in situations like:
- explaining to a skeptical director why you set aside extra funds for vendor price increases
- justifying two extra days added to a strict project deadline
- describing infrastructure built to absorb a sudden traffic spike without crashing
Useful practice phrases:
- "We built in a cushion to [absorb/protect against] [specific risk]."
- "[Policy/package] is designed to cushion [group] against [impact]."
- "We diversified [revenue/vendors] to cushion against [risk]."
Use cushion when a reserve or action reduces exposure or impact. Name the risk when readers cannot infer it from context.
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