I. ˈbək noun
( -s ; see senses 1&3 )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English buck, bucke, from Old English buc, bucca he-goat, stag; akin to Old High German boc he-goat, Old Norse bukkr, Middle Irish bocc he-goat, Armenian buc lamb
1. or plural buck : a male animal:
a. : a male deer or antelope — not usually used of the male elk or moose or technically of the male red deer; compare bull , stag
b. : a male of any of several other four-footed mammals (as the goat, sheep, hare, rabbit, guinea pig, or rat) ; specifically : ram
c. : a male of some game fishes (as the salmon or shad)
2. : a male human being : man:
a. : a dashing fellow
b. : a male Indian or Negro — often used disparagingly
3. or plural buck : antelope — often used in combination
bush buck
spring buck
4.
a.
[by shortening]
: buckskin ; often : an article (as a shoe) made of buckskin
b. archaic : a deerskin regarded as a unit of exchange in early dealings with American Indians
c. : dollar 4a
5.
[short for sawbuck ]
: sawhorse
6.
a. : a supporting rack or frame: as
(1) : a heavy square framework used in the glazing of leather
(2) : a rack for plate glass
(3) : a frame on which a clay model is built up
(4) : a large jig used especially in aircraft assembly operations
b. : a rough doorframe placed in a wall or partition during construction and used as a support to which the finished frame is made fast
c. : the padded usually horizontal part of a pressing machine on which clothes are placed for pressing — compare shoe
d. : a short thick leather-covered block for gymnastic vaulting usually without pommels and adjustable for height
•
- go to buck
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: buck (I) , influenced in some meanings by butt, v.
intransitive verb
1. of a horse or mule : to spring with a quick plunging leap arching the back and descending with the forelegs rigid and the head held as low as possible
2. : to meet head on as if in butting:
a. : to charge an obstruction under power
the plows … bucked day and half the night to keep the roads open — Helen Rich
b. : to act, move, or stand firm in opposition
East Bay legislators bucked in vain — Fortnight
— often used with against
salmon bucking against the stiff current
you're the one who has bucked against your churchmen — Zane Grey
c. : to oppose one electric potential or field to another so that there is counteraction or neutralization
3.
a. : to move or react jerkily or erratically
the vehicles bucked in and out of the obstructions — Darrell Berrigan
the way those early outboard motors would buck and die on you — Newsweek
b. : to refuse to submit or agree : balk ; sometimes : to become resentful
4. : to strive diligently for advancement or reward sometimes without regard to ethical behavior or the rights or interests of others — usually used with for
bucking for sergeant's stripes
transitive verb
1. : to throw or dislodge (as a rider) by bucking
the pinto sunfished and bucked Charley over the paddock fence
— often used with off
leaned all his weight on it as the pressure of the water tried to buck him off the hose — C.D.Lewis
2.
a. archaic : butt I
b. : to move in opposition to
was bucking sleet and snow all the way
c. : to act in opposition to : fight against : oppose , resist
there's no point in bucking a well-established trend
sometimes : to compete with
the show occupied one of the toughest spots of the week … bucking the fantastically popular Charlie McCarthy at the same hour — Charles Jackson
d. : to play or gamble against
bucking the odds
e. : to hold a tool against (a rivet) in order to resist the force of hammering — often used with up
the man who bucks up the rivets has a hot difficult job
f. : to carry, move, or load (heavy or troublesome objects) especially with mechanical equipment
3. : to charge into (the opponents' line in football)
4. : to buck up — usually used in passive
Jumbo was greatly bucked over it — Time
5. : to restrain (a person) by tying the wrists together, passing the arms over the bent knees, and putting a stick across the arms and through the angle formed by the knees ; usually : to punish (as a soldier) by so restraining
6. : to pass especially from one person to another : hand on
it was easier to buck the heavy sacks down the line than to carry them one by one
the Post Office department bucked the question on to Postmaster Pafford — Time
•
- buck the board
- buck the tiger
III. noun
( -s )
: the act or an instance of bucking
he gave easily to the first excited bucks of his pony — Rudyard Kipling
especially : a charge by the ball carrier into the opposing line in football
IV. adjective
Etymology: probably from buck (I) (man)
slang : being of the lowest grade within the military category to which one belongs
a buck private
a buck general
V. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: probably from buck (I) (sawhorse)
1. : to saw (felled trees) into logs or small pieces (as with a bucksaw)
2. : bring , carry
buck water
3. : to split (a stick of timber) into two crossties
VI. ˈbək, ˈbu̇k transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English bouken; akin to Middle High German būchen to wash with lye, Old High German buohha beech tree — more at beech
1. dialect chiefly Britain : to soak, steep, or boil in lye or suds
2. dialect chiefly Britain : to wash (clothes) in lye or suds or by beating on stones in running water
VII. noun
( -s )
1. dialect chiefly Britain : lye or suds in which cloth or yarn is soaked or boiled in bleaching or in which clothes are washed
2. dialect chiefly Britain : the cloth or clothes soaked or washed in buck : wash
a jolly brown wench, a-washing of her buck — Thomas D'Urfey
VIII. ˈbək transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Dutch beuken (from Middle Dutch bōken, böken ) or Low German böken to strike, from Middle Low German bōken; akin to Middle High German bocken, pochen to strike, beat — more at poke
: to break up : pulverize
buck ore samples
IX. noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
Britain : a basket for catching eels ; sometimes : a frame supporting a group of such baskets
X. noun
( -s )
Etymology: short for earlier buckhorn knife
1. : an object formerly used in poker to mark the next player to deal or to deal a jackpot, the winner of each jackpot placing the buck in front of him ; especially : a buckhorn-handled knife used for this purpose — see pass
2. : a token used as a mark or reminder in a gambling game (as one used to designate a player's point in a dice game)
3. : a small object (as a silver token) used to mark the place of the officer who is to be served first in a naval wardroom
XI.
variant of bukh
XII. adverb
Etymology: origin unknown
South & Midland : stark , completely — usually used in the phrase buck naked
XIII. noun
: a sum of money especially to be gained
greed and the desire to make a quick buck — London Times
pursuing the tourist buck — Albin West
it entreats in the name of art; it hopes to make a buck , too — John Corry
agents who look only for the biggest buck — Sol Stein
also : money
tactics … the Pentagon has used in its pursuit of the public buck — Robert Claiborne
— usually used in plural
for the big bucks you've got to give people meaningful material — Russell Baker
the public image of art as bucks — Barbara Rose