I. buck 1 S1 /bʌk/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Sense 1,4: Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: Perhaps from buckskin ; because it was used as a unit of exchange in trade with Native Americans. ]
[ Sense 2: Date: 1900-2000 ; Origin: buck 'object used in the card game of poker to mark the next person to play' (19-20 centuries) , from buckhorn knife 'knife with a handle made from a buck's horn' (19-20 centuries) . ]
[ Sense 3, 5: Language: Old English ; Origin: bucca 'male deer or goat' ]
1 . DOLLAR informal a US, Canadian, or Australian dollar:
He owes me ten bucks.
The movie is about a group of men trying to make a buck (=earn some money) as male strippers.
big/mega bucks (=a lot of money)
Using celebrities in advertising is guaranteed to pull in big bucks.
make a fast/quick buck (=make some money quickly, often dishonestly)
2 . the buck stops here ( also the buck stops with somebody ) used to say that a particular person is responsible for something:
The buck stops firmly with the boss.
3 . pass the buck to make someone else responsible for something that you should deal with
4 . feel/look like a million bucks especially American English informal to feel or look very healthy, happy, and beautiful
5 . ANIMAL ( plural buck or bucks ) a male rabbit, ↑ deer , and some other male animals ⇨ doe
6 . MAN old-fashioned a young man ⇨ (get) a bigger/better etc bang for your buck at ↑ bang 1 (5)
II. buck 2 BrE AmE verb
1 . HORSE [intransitive] if a horse bucks, it kicks its back feet into the air, or jumps with all four feet off the ground
2 . MOVE SUDDENLY [intransitive] to suddenly move up and down, or backwards and forwards, in an uncontrolled way:
The plane bucked sharply.
3 . OPPOSE [transitive] to oppose something in a direct way:
He was a rebel who bucked the system (=opposed rules or authority) .
Unemployment in the area has bucked the trend by falling over the last month.
buck against
Initially, he had bucked against her restraints.
4 . MAKE SOMEBODY HAPPIER [transitive] to make someone feel more happy, confident, or healthy:
He was bucked by the success he’d had.
She gave me a tonic which bucked me a little.
buck for something phrasal verb
to try very hard to get something, especially a good position at work:
He’s bucking for promotion.
buck up phrasal verb
1 . to become happier, or to make someone happier:
Come on, buck up, things aren’t that bad!
buck somebody ↔ up
You need something to buck you up.
2 . buck up! British English old-fashioned used to tell someone to hurry up:
Buck up, John! We’ll be late.
3 . informal to improve, or to make something improve:
It’ll be a long time before the situation starts to buck up.
buck something ↔ up
a company that is looking to buck up its networking capabilities
4 . buck your ideas up British English informal used to tell someone to improve their behaviour or attitude
III. buck 3 BrE AmE adverb American English
buck naked not wearing any clothes