buck

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To resist or oppose something, especially a trend or rule.

   The company chose to buck the trend and lower its prices.

2. 2
   verb

   (of a horse) To jump with the back arched and the legs stiff, often to throw off a rider.

   The young horse bucked and threw its rider to the ground.

3. 3
   noun

   A male deer, rabbit, or similar animal.

   A buck stood at the edge of the forest, watching us.

Multiword verbs with buck

• buck up Phrasal verb C1

  to become more cheerful, courageous, or determined

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Buck in the animal sense seems to combine Old English buc “male deer” and bucca “male goat.” From the mid-19th century, a poker buck was a marker showing whose turn it was to deal, giving rise to pass the buck; the marker may originally have been a buckhorn knife handle, though its origin is uncertain. Buck up is associated with the sharp jerk of a buck’s butting movements, while the verb buck seems to come from the way a buck jumps. The American use of buck for a dollar is uncertain but may derive from buckskins formerly used as a medium of exchange.

* For both the English surname and given name, originally a nickname for someone who resembled a buck. * Also as an English topographic surname, from Middle English buk (modern beech). * As a German and Dutch surname, shortened from Burkhard, compare Burkhart. * As a north German and Danish surname, from Middle Low German bûk (“belly”), from Old Saxon būk, from Proto-West Germanic *būk, from Proto-Germanic *būkaz. Compare Bauch. * Also as a German and Dutch surname, variant of Bock. * Also as a German surname, variant of Puck. * As a Germanized Lower Sorbian surname, from buk (“beech”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary