Contents

English

Etymology

Middle English buc, from Old English bucca 'he-goat', from Proto-Germanic *bukkon (compare German Bock), from Pre-Germanic *bhug̑nó, from Proto-Indo-European *bhug̑os 'ram' (compare Albanian buzë, Old Armenian բուծ (buc, “sucking lamb”), Persian بز (boz, “goat”), Sanskrit बुख (bukha)).

Pronunciation

Noun

buck (plural bucks)

  1. A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare, and sometimes the male of other animals such as the ferret and shad.
  2. (US) An uncastrated sheep, a ram.
  3. A young buck; an adventurous, impetuous, dashing, or high-spirited young man.
  4. (UK, obsolete) A fop or dandy.
  5. (US, dated, derogatory) A black or Native American man.
  6. (Australian, US, informal) A dollar (one hundred cents).
    Can I borrow five bucks?
  7. (US, slang) One hundred.
    The police caught me driving a buck-forty on the freeway.
    That skinny guy? C'mon, he can't weigh more than a buck and a quarter.
  8. (dated) An object of various types, placed on a table to indicate turn or status; such as a brass object, placed in rotation on a US Navy wardroom dining table to indicate which officer is to be served first, or an item passed around a poker table indicating the dealer or placed in the pot to remind the winner of some privilege or obligation when his or her turn to deal next comes.
  9. (US, in certain metaphors or phrases) Blame; responsibility; scapegoating; finger-pointing.
    passing the buck
    The buck stops here. — Harry S. Truman
  10. (always plural, bucks) Casual oxford shoes made of buckskin, often white or a neutral color.
  11. (UK, dialect) The body of a post mill, particularly in East Anglia. See Wikipedia:Windmill machinery.
  12. (finance, jargon) One million dollars.

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • sawbuck (not descended from buck, but clearly influenced by)
  • buck naked (origin uncertain)

See also

Verb

to buck (third-person singular simple present bucks, present participle bucking, simple past and past participle bucked)

  1. (intransitive) (of a horse, or similar saddle or pack animal) To leap upward arching its back, coming down with head low and forelegs stiff, forcefully kicking its hind legs upward, often in an attempt to dislodge or throw a rider or pack.
    • 1848, Jackey Jackey (an Aborigine), quoted in William Carron, Narrative of an Expedition Undertaken Under the Direction of the Late Mr. Assistant Surveyor E. B. Kennedy at Project Gutenberg Australia
      At the same time we got speared, the horses got speared too, and jumped and bucked all about.
  2. (transitive) (of a horse, or similar saddle or pack animal) to successfully throw or attempt to throw (a rider or pack) by bucking.
  3. (intransitive) (by extension) To resist obstinately; oppose or object strongly.
    The vice president bucked at the board's latest solution.
  4. (intransitive) (by extension) To move or operate in a sharp, jerking, or uneven manner.
    The motor bucked and sputtered before dying completely.
  5. (transitive) (by extension) To overcome or shed (e.g., an impediment or expectation), in pursuit of a goal; to force a way through despite (an obstacle); to resist or proceed against.
    The plane bucked a strong headwind.
    Our managers have to learn to buck the trend and do the right thing for their employees.
    John is really bucking the odds on that risky business venture. He's doing quite well.
  6. (riveting) To press a reinforcing device (bucking bar) against (the force of a rivet) in order to absorb vibration and increase expansion. See Wikipedia: Rivet:Installation.

Derived terms

Translations

of a horse: to leap upward arching its back, kicking out hind legs
  • Italian: sgroppare it(it)
  • Spanish: corcovear es(es)
to resist obstinately; oppose or object strongly
  • German: sich widersetzen de(de)

 

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hu, 19 Aug 2010 11:53:00 GM

"Star patient" Linda Burch sidestepped along a new set of parallel bars, as a Fair Haven Heights nursing home debuted a new wing designed to help seniors rehabilitate -- and...

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