English [ edit ]
Pronunciation [ edit ]
Etymology 1 [ edit ]
From a frequentative form of buck ( “ to bend, buckle ” ) , of Dutch Low Saxon or German Low German origin, related to Dutch bukken ( “ to stoop, bend, yield, submit ” ) , German bücken ( “ to stoop, bend ” ) , Swedish bocka ( “ to buck, bow ” ) , equivalent to buck + -le . Compare Middle Dutch buchelen ( “ to strive, tug under a load ” ) , dialectal German aufbückeln ( “ to raise or arch the back ” ) .
buckle (third-person singular simple present buckles , present participle buckling , simple past and past participle buckled )
( intransitive ) To distort or collapse under physical pressure ; especially, of a slender structure in compression .
2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "[1] ," New York Times (retrieved 31 October 2012) :
Perhaps as startling as the sheer toll was the devastation to some of the state’s well-known locales. Boardwalks along the beach in Seaside Heights, Belmar and other towns on the Jersey Shore were blown away. Amusement parks, arcades and restaurants all but vanished. Bridges to barrier islands buckled , preventing residents from even inspecting the damage to their property.
( transitive ) To make bend ; to cause to become distorted.
( intransitive , figuratively ) To give in ; to react suddenly or adversely to stress or pressure (of a person).
It is amazing that he has never buckled after so many years of doing such urgent work.
( intransitive ) To yield ; to give way ; to cease opposing.
1664 , Samuel Pepys , diary entry December 15
The Dutch, as high as they seem, do begin to buckle .
( obsolete , intransitive ) To enter upon some labour or contest ; to join in close fight ; to contend .
1549 , Hugh Latimer , The Second Sermon preached before King Edward
The bishop was as able and ready to buckle with the Lord Protector as he was with him.
c. 1597 , William Shakespeare , “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, [ … ] ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ward] Blount , published 1623, OCLC 606515358 , [Act I, scene ii]:In single combat thou shalt buckle with me.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville , chapter 32, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale , 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers ; London: Richard Bentley , OCLC 57395299 , page 157 :Provoke him, and he will buckle to a shark.
To buckle down ; to apply oneself.
1700 , Isaac Barrow , Of Industry in our particular Calling, as Scholars
To make our sturdy humour buckle thereto.
December 6, 1838 , James David Forbes , letter to J. T. Harrison, Esq.
Before buckling to my winter's work.
1655 , Thomas Fuller , Church-History of Britain
Cartwright buckled himself to the employment.
Translations [ edit ]
to distort under longitudinal compression
to make bend; to cause to become distorted
to yield; to cease opposing
to enter upon some labour or contest
Etymology 2 [ edit ]
A buckle (clasp for fastening).
From Middle English bukel ( “ spiked metal ring for holding a belt, etc ” ) , from Old French boucle , bocle ( “ "boss (of a shield)" then "shield," later "buckle, metal ring ” ) , from Latin buccula ( “ cheek strap of a helmet ” ) , diminutive of bucca ( “ cheek ” ) .
buckle (plural buckles )
( countable ) A clasp used for fastening two things together, such as the ends of a belt, or for retaining the end of a strap.
( Canada , heraldry ) The brisure of an eighth daughter.
( roofing ) An upward, elongated displacement of a roof membrane frequently occurring over insulation or deck joints . A buckle may be an indication of movement with the roof assembly.
A distortion, bulge, bend, or kink, as in a saw blade or a plate of sheet metal.
(Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)
A curl of hair, especially a kind of crisp curl formerly worn; also, the state of being curled.
ear-locks in tight buckles on each side of a long lanthorn face
1711 August 8, Joseph Addison ; Richard Steele , “SATURDAY, July 28, 1711 [Julian calendar ]”, in The Spectator , number 129; republished in Alexander Chalmers , editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, [ … ] , volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company , 1853, OCLC 191120697 :
lets his wig lie in buckle for a whole half year
A contorted expression, as of the face.
1763 , Charles Churchill , The Ghost
'Gainst nature arm'd by gravity, / His features too in buckle see.
Translations [ edit ]
belt clasp
Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Egyptian Arabic: ابزيم m ( abzīm )
Armenian: ճարմանդ (hy) ( čarmand )
Old Armenian: ճարմանդ ( čarmand ) , շիգղ ( šigł )
Azerbaijani: toqqa (az)
Belarusian: спра́жка f ( sprážka ) , за́сцежка f ( záscježka )
Bulgarian: тока (bg) f ( toka ) , катарама (bg) f ( katarama )
Burmese: ထိကပေါက် (my) ( hti.ka.pauk )
Catalan: sivella (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 扣環 (zh) , 扣环 (zh) ( kòuhuán ) , 搭扣 (zh) ( dākòu )
Czech: spona f , přezka f
Danish: spænde n
Dutch: gesp (nl)
Esperanto: buko
Estonian: pannal
Faroese: spenni n
Finnish: solki (fi)
French: boucle (fr) f
Galician: fibela f
Georgian: აბზინდა (ka) ( abzinda )
German: Schnalle (de) f
Greek: αγκράφα (el) f ( agkráfa )
Ancient Greek: περόνη f ( perónē )
Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
Hindi: बकसुआ m ( baksuā )
Hungarian: csat (hu) , kapocs (hu)
Icelandic: sylgja f
Ido: buklo (io)
Indonesian: please add this translation if you can
Irish: búcla m
Italian: fibbia (it) f
Japanese: 尾錠 ( びじょう, bijō ) , 締め金 ( しめがね, shimegane ) , バックル ( bakkuru )
Kazakh: тоға ( toğa ) , айылбас (kk) ( ayılbas )
Khmer: កន្លាស់ (km) ( kɑnlah ) , គន្លឹះ (km) ( kŭənlɨh )
Korean: 솔기 (ko) ( solgi ) , 버클 ( beokeul ) ( loanword )
Kyrgyz: таралга (ky) ( taralga )
Lao: ຫົວສາຍແອວ ( hūa sāi ʼǣu ) , ຜູກຄຽນແອວ ( phūk khīan ʼǣu )
Latin: buccula
Latvian: sprādze f
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: тока f ( toka )
Malay: kancing , gesper
Maori: kati , tāpine
Mongolian: горхи (mn) ( gorhi )
Nepali: पेटी ( peṭī ) , बेल्ट ( belṭ )
Norman: bliouque f
Norwegian: spenne (no)
Persian: سگک (fa) ( sagak ) , ابزیم ( abzim )
Plautdietsch: Schnal f
Polish: sprzączka (pl) f , klamra (pl) f
Portuguese: fivela (pt) f
Romanian: cataramă (ro) f
Russian: ( belt ) пря́жка (ru) f ( prjážka ) , бля́ха (ru) f ( bljáxa ) , застёжка (ru) f ( zastjóžka )
Serbo-Croatian: kopča (sh) , копча f , šnala (sh) f , шнала f
Sinhalese: ගාංචුව ( gāṁcuwa )
Slovak: pracka f , sponka f
Slovene: zaponka f
Spanish: hebilla (es)
Swedish: spänne (sv) n , bältesspänne (sv) n
Tagalog: pamuko , hebilya
Thai: หัวเข็มขัด ( hǔua-kěm-kàt )
Tibetan: ཆབ་རྩེ ( chab rtse )
Turkish: toka (tr)
Ukrainian: пря́жка f ( prjážka ) , за́стібка f ( zástibka )
Uzbek: to'qa (uz)
Vietnamese: khóa (vi)
Walloon: blouke f
Welsh: bwcwl m
Zhuang: please add this translation if you can
buckle (third-person singular simple present buckles , present participle buckling , simple past and past participle buckled )
( transitive ) To fasten using a buckle.
( Scotland ) To unite in marriage .
(Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Scott to this entry?)
Translations [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]
Anagrams [ edit ]