| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| buckle |
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| SYLLABICATION: | buck·le |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  b k  l |
| NOUN: | 1. A clasp for fastening two ends, as of straps or a belt, in which a device attached to one of the ends is fitted or coupled to the other. 2. An ornament that resembles this clasp, such as a metal square on a shoe or hat. 3. An instance of bending, warping, or crumpling; a bend or bulge. | | VERB: | Inflected forms: buck·led, buck·ling, buck·les
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To fasten with a buckle. 2. To cause to bend, warp, or crumple. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To become fastened with a buckle. 2. To bend, warp, or crumple, as under pressure or heat. 3. To give way; collapse: My knees buckled with fear. 4. To succumb, as to exhaustion or authority; give in: finally buckled under the excessive demands of the job. | | PHRASAL VERBS: | buckle down To apply oneself with determination. buckle up To use a safety belt, especially in an automobile. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English bokel, from Old French boucle, from Latin buccula, cheek strap of a helmet, diminutive of bucca, cheek.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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