buck fever
Americannoun
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nervous excitement of an inexperienced hunter upon the approach of game.
-
any nervous excitement preceding a new experience.
noun
Etymology
Origin of buck fever
An Americanism dating back to 1835–45
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.
He writes, “ … it’s not that I fear buck fever, it’s that I can’t seem to work up a decent feeling of enmity toward a deer.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 14, 2023
Don’t let buck fever cause you to freeze up during the Slate News Quiz.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2021
The War Department increased the general buck fever by asking editors and publishers not to bannerize bombing raids, asking columnists to be casual.
From Time Magazine Archive
When he found one, instead of aiming and shooting, he got a classic case of buck fever.
From Time Magazine Archive
Jack, who had been seized with a sort of buck fever after he realized what he had shot, was trembling with excitement as he received the almost envious congratulations of his friends.
From The Boy Scouts on the Yukon by Mencl, Rudolf
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.
