buckle
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 by under): She refused to take the medicine, but buckled under when the doctor told her to.
- 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.
- buckle up, to fasten one's belt, seat belt, or buckles: She won't start the car until we've all buckled up.
Origin of buckle
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.combuckle down
- (intr, adverb) informal to apply oneself with determinationto buckle down to a job
buckle
- 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 distortiona buckle in a railway track
- 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
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for buckle down
buckle
n.
"spiked metal ring for holding a belt, etc., c.1300, bukel, from Old French bocle "boss (of a shield)," then "shield," then by further extension "buckle, metal ring," (12c., Modern French boucle), from Latin buccula "cheek strap of a helmet," in Late Latin "boss of a shield," diminutive of bucca "cheek" (see bouche).
Boucle in the middle ages had the double sense of a "shield's boss" and "a ring"; the last sense has alone survived, and it metaph. developed in the boucle de cheveux, ringlets. [Kitchin]
buckle
v.2
"distort, warp, bend out of shape" 1520s, bokelen "to arch the body," from Middle French boucler "to bulge," from Old French bocler "to bulge," from bocle "boss of a shield" (see buckle (n.)). Meaning "bend under strong pressure" is from 1590s (figurative from 1640s) . Related: Buckled; buckling.
buckle
Idioms and Phrases with buckle down
buckle down
Set to work, apply oneself with determination, as in All right, we'll buckle down now and study for exams. Originating about 1700 as buckle to, the expression gained currency with the football song “Buckle-Down, Winsocki” (from the Broadway musical comedy Best Foot Forward, 1941). [Mid-1800s]