buckle
Americannoun
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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.
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any similar contrivance used for such purposes.
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an ornament of metal, beads, etc., of similar appearance.
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a bend, bulge, or kink, as in a board or saw blade.
verb (used with object)
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to fasten with a buckle or buckles.
Buckle your seat belt.
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to shrivel, by applying heat or pressure; bend; curl.
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to prepare (oneself ) for action; apply (oneself ) vigorously to something.
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to bend, warp, or cause to give way suddenly, as with heat or pressure.
verb (used without object)
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to close or fasten with a buckle.
Grandmother always wore shoes that buckled.
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to prepare oneself or apply oneself.
The student buckled to the lesson.
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to bend, warp, bulge, or collapse.
The bridge buckled in the storm.
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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
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buckle up to fasten one's belt, seat belt, or buckles.
She won't start the car until we've all buckled up.
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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
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a clasp for fastening together two loose ends, esp of a belt or strap, usually consisting of a frame with an attached movable prong
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an ornamental representation of a buckle, as on a shoe
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a kink, bulge, or other distortion
a buckle in a railway track
verb
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to fasten or be fastened with a buckle
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to bend or cause to bend out of shape, esp as a result of pressure or heat
Other Word Forms
- buckleless adjective
- rebuckle verb
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
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.
When she buckled up in her Volvo sedan, she would say something like this:
From MarketWatch
As the state-backed property giant buckles under the weight of its debt, the government has so far refrained from stepping in.
Take the hot summers - these heat railway tracks beyond temperatures they can handle, sometimes causing them to buckle, he says.
From BBC
Two buckles were recovered, one dating to the late Roman period and one dating to the post-medieval period.
From BBC
And even when England were employing an orthodox method of Test batting, they eventually buckled to the relentless Australians.
From BBC
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.
