buckle
Americannoun
-
buckles
plural
-
a clasp consisting of a rectangular or curved rim with one or more movable tongues, fixed to one end of a belt or strap, used for fastening to the other end of the same strap or to another strap.
-
any similar contrivance used for such purposes.
-
an ornament of metal, beads, etc., of similar appearance.
-
a bend, bulge, or kink, as in a board or saw blade.
verb (used with object)
-
buckles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
buckled,
past participle, past
-
buckling
present participle
-
to fasten with a buckle or buckles.
Buckle your seat belt.
-
to shrivel, by applying heat or pressure; bend; curl.
-
to prepare (oneself ) for action; apply (oneself ) vigorously to something.
-
to bend, warp, or cause to give way suddenly, as with heat or pressure.
verb (used without object)
-
buckles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
buckled,
past participle, past
-
buckling
present participle
-
to close or fasten with a buckle.
Grandmother always wore shoes that buckled.
-
to prepare oneself or apply oneself.
The student buckled to the lesson.
-
to bend, warp, bulge, or collapse.
The bridge buckled in the storm.
-
to yield, surrender, or give way to another (often followed byunder ).
She refused to take the medicine, but buckled under when the doctor told her to.
verb phrase
-
buckle up to fasten one's belt, seat belt, or buckles.
She won't start the car until we've all buckled up.
-
buckle down to set to work with vigor; concentrate on one's work.
He was by nature a daydreamer and found it hard to buckle down.
noun
-
a clasp for fastening together two loose ends, esp of a belt or strap, usually consisting of a frame with an attached movable prong
-
an ornamental representation of a buckle, as on a shoe
-
a kink, bulge, or other distortion
a buckle in a railway track
verb
-
to fasten or be fastened with a buckle
-
to bend or cause to bend out of shape, esp as a result of pressure or heat
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bucklesimple
-
bucklessimple
-
have buckledperfect
-
has buckledperfect
-
am bucklingprogressive
-
are bucklingprogressive
-
is bucklingprogressive
-
have been bucklingperfect progressive
-
has been bucklingperfect progressive
Past
-
buckledsimple
-
had buckledperfect
-
was bucklingprogressive
-
were bucklingprogressive
-
had been bucklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of buckle
1300–50; Middle English bocle < Anglo-French bo ( u ) cle, bucle < Latin buc ( c ) ula cheekpiece (of a helmet), strip of wood, etc., resembling a cheekpiece, equivalent to bucc ( a ) cheek + -ula -ule
Explanation
A buckle is a clasp or fastener, such as the one on the end of a belt. In the old days, not only belts but also shoes had buckles. When you fasten your belt buckle, you can say you buckle it — you also buckle your seat belt and buckle a kid's bike helmet under his chin. When the ground buckles during an earthquake, it folds or bends out of shape, and when your knees buckle, you could fall. You might also buckle under pressure or stress. The Latin root word is buccula, "cheek strap of a helmet."
Vocabulary lists containing buckle
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 6
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The ACT Reading Test: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 6
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Higher insurance costs could cause some homeowners to buckle under the financial pressure, Cotality said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Strong corporate earnings and a resilient jobs market have given investors confidence that the economy won’t buckle under higher borrowing costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Concrete slabs between the homes had started to crack or buckle, with some of the fissures running all the way up to or under the homes’ walls, the news outlet reported.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
These engineered structures are designed to bend, buckle and snap in controlled ways that provide useful functions.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
He gives me a solemn look as I buckle in, and then he drives extra slow—even worse than Roli.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
"So they detach the slow-growing gut, which is now tethering the lengthening body. The body buckles and twists into coiling," Miyashita explains.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026
“We need more cowboy hats and belt buckles in Washington,” he wrote in a campaign post on July 15.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
All seven members - Maya, Juria, Hinata, Harvey, Cocona, Chisa and Jurin - are dressed in vibrant neon outfits that erupt with tufts of faux fur and intricate belt buckles.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
As the state-backed property giant buckles under the weight of its debt, the government has so far refrained from stepping in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
Mosca played intently with the buckles of the bag and avoided Scipio's eyes.
From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke
Beattie buckled but didn’t break — at least not then.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
The last remaining big Wall Street holdouts have buckled under.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
They are often "outdated, too narrow, overgrown with vegetation and buckled by tree roots", complained Lisa Feitsch of the cycling association ADFC.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Lisandro Martinez: Experience vital on a day when the home side might have buckled.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
His legs buckled and he sank to his knees.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
Christine Ji and Hannah Pedone looked into the reasons for the buckling AI trade, with more than two-thirds of stocks in the S&P 500 information technology sector down at least 20% from their recent highs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
A high-rise building in New York City under construction is structurally unstable after two of its support columns started buckling on Tuesday morning.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
"Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
Forcing it to blink is not a costless enterprise, but buckling is not costless either.
From Slate ● May 18, 2026
At the end of the hallway was a room full of people, some of them sitting on benches and pulling on knee-high rubber boots, some struggling into their slickers, some buckling on tool belts.
From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
