/ bʌk; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C ] ( informal ) a US, Australian or New Zealand dollar; a South African rand ; an Indian rupee :
They cost ten bucks.
We're talking big bucks (= a lot of money) here.
2.
[ C ] a male deer , hare or rabbit (also called a buck rabbit )
—compare doe , hart , stag
3.
[ C ] ( SAfrE ) a deer , whether male or female :
a herd of buck
4.
[ C ] ( old-fashioned , informal ) a young man
5.
the buck [ sing. ] used in some expressions to refer to the responsibility or blame for sth :
It was my decision. The buck stops here (= nobody else can be blamed) .
I was tempted to pass the buck (= make sb else responsible) .
ORIGIN: From buck , an object which in a poker game is placed in front of the player whose turn it is to deal.
•
IDIOMS
- make a fast / quick buck
—more at bang noun , million
■ verb
1.
[ v ] ( of a horse ) to jump with the two back feet or all four feet off the ground
2.
[ v ] to move up and down suddenly or in a way that is not controlled :
The boat bucked and heaved beneath them.
3.
[ vn ] ( informal ) to resist or oppose sth :
One or two companies have managed to buck the trend of the recession.
He admired her willingness to buck the system (= oppose authority or rules) .
•
IDIOMS
- buck your ideas up
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- buck up
- buck sb up
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun senses 2 to 3 and verb Old English , partly from buc male deer (of Germanic origin, related to Dutch bok and German Bock ); reinforced by bucca male goat , of the same ultimate origin.
noun sense 1 mid 19th cent.: of unknown origin.