buckle up

Idioms

Fasten a seat belt, as in All the children must learn to buckle up as soon as they get in a car. This term came into wide use in the second half of the 1900s, when seat belts became mandatory automobile equipment. Earlier they had been used mainly in airplanes.

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:

buckle up

All told, investors may want to buckle up for a bumpy ride.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026

“The BOJ will probably have to sit on its hands and buckle up for unwelcome downside JPY volatility,” Varathan adds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

"Time for us all to buckle up and get ready for the ride," said Key when he appointed McCullum in 2022.

From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026

Investors in Treasury debt should buckle up for a week full of news with the potential to move prices.

From Barron's ● Nov. 10, 2025

A prerecorded voice came on over the speaker: Hi, this is Ganymede, cup-bearer to Zeus, and when I’m out buying wine for the Lord of the Skies, I always buckle up!

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023