buck

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[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English buc, from Old English bucca (“he-goat, stag”), from Proto-Germanic *bukkô (“buck”) (compare German Bock), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰug- (“ram”) (compare Albanian buzë, Old Armenian բուծ (buc, “sucking lamb”), Persian بز (boz, “goat”), Sanskrit बुख (bukha)).

[edit] Noun

buck (plural bucks)

  1. A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare, and sometimes the male of other animals such as the ferret and shad.
  2. (US) An uncastrated sheep, a ram.
  3. A young buck; an adventurous, impetuous, dashing, or high-spirited young man.
  4. (UK, obsolete) A fop or dandy.
    • 1808, Alexander Chalmers {editor), The Connoisseur, The British Essayists, Volume 32, page 93,
      This pusillanimous creature thinks himself, and would be thought, a buck.
    • 1825, Constantine Henry Phipps, I Zingari, The English in Italy, Volume II, page 153,
      The Captain was then a buck and dandy, during the reign of those two successive dynasties, of the first rank of the second order ; the characteristic of which very respectable rank of fashionables I hold to be, that their spurs impinge upon the pavement oftener than upon the sides of a horse.
  5. (US, dated, derogatory) A black or Native American man.
  6. (Australian, US, informal) A dollar (one hundred cents).
    Can I borrow five bucks?
  7. (US, slang) One hundred.
    The police caught me driving a buck-forty on the freeway.
    That skinny guy? C'mon, he can't weigh more than a buck and a quarter.
  8. (dated) An object of various types, placed on a table to indicate turn or status; such as a brass object, placed in rotation on a US Navy wardroom dining table to indicate which officer is to be served first, or an item passed around a poker table indicating the dealer or placed in the pot to remind the winner of some privilege or obligation when his or her turn to deal next comes.
  9. (US, in certain metaphors or phrases) Blame; responsibility; scapegoating; finger-pointing.
    pass the buck; the buck stops here
  10. (UK, dialect) The body of a post mill, particularly in East Anglia. See Wikipedia:Windmill machinery.
  11. (finance, jargon) One million dollars.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
  • sawbuck (not descended from buck, but clearly influenced by)
  • buck naked (origin uncertain)
[edit] See also
[edit] Translations
male deer, goat, etc.
uncastrated sheep, a ram
adventurous or high-spirited young man
fop or dandy
informal: dollar
slang: one hundred of anything
metaphorically: blame, responsibility, scapegoating, finger-pointing
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Etymology 2

From Middle Low German bucken (“to bend”) or Middle Dutch bucken, bocken (“to bend”), intensive forms of Old Saxon būgan and Old Dutch *būgan (“to bend, bow”), from Proto-Germanic *būganan (“to bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhūgh- (“to bend”). Cognate with German bücken (“to bend, stoop”), Danish bukke (“to buck”), Swedish bocka (“to bend, buck, bow”). In fluenced in some senses by buck (“male goat”). See above. Cf. bow.

[edit] Verb

buck (third-person singular simple present bucks, present participle bucking, simple past and past participle bucked)

  1. (intransitive) To bend; buckle.
  2. (intransitive, of a horse or similar saddle or pack animal) To leap upward arching its back, coming down with head low and forelegs stiff, forcefully kicking its hind legs upward, often in an attempt to dislodge or throw a rider or pack.
    • 1849, Jackey Jackey, The Statement of the Aboriginal Native Jackey Jackey, who Accompanied Mr. Kennedy, William Carron, Narrative of an Expedition Undertaken Under the Direction of the Late Mr. Assistant Surveyor E. B. Kennedy, 2004 Gutenberg Australia eBook #0201121,
      At the same time we got speared, the horses got speared too, and jumped and bucked all about, and got into the swamp.
  3. (transitive, of a horse or similar saddle or pack animal) to successfully throw or attempt to throw (a rider or pack) by bucking.
  4. (intransitive, by extension) To resist obstinately; oppose or object strongly.
    The vice president bucked at the board's latest solution.
  5. (intransitive, by extension) To move or operate in a sharp, jerking, or uneven manner.
    The motor bucked and sputtered before dying completely.
  6. (transitive, by extension) To overcome or shed (e.g., an impediment or expectation), in pursuit of a goal; to force a way through despite (an obstacle); to resist or proceed against.
    The plane bucked a strong headwind.
    Our managers have to learn to buck the trend and do the right thing for their employees.
    John is really bucking the odds on that risky business venture. He's doing quite well.
  7. (riveting) To press a reinforcing device (bucking bar) against (the force of a rivet) in order to absorb vibration and increase expansion. See Wikipedia: Rivet:Installation.
  8. (forestry) To saw a felled tree into shorter lengths, as for firewood.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
of a horse: to leap upward arching its back, kicking out hind legs
to resist obstinately; oppose or object strongly
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