| 释义 |
▪ I. buck, n.1|bʌk|
Forms: (sense ‘he-goat’) 1 bucca, 2–3 buc, 3–4 bucke, 4–6 bukke; (senses ‘male deer’, etc.) 1, 5 buc, 3–5 bok, 4–7 bukke, bucke, 5 buk, 4– buck.
[Orig. two words, OE. buc and bucca, which became indistinguishable in form after 11th c. So far as the evidence goes, OE. buc was used for the male deer, and bucca for the he-goat, but the instances are so few that it is far from certain that the words were thus distinguished in meaning. OE. buc = MDu. boc, Du. bok, OHG. bocch (MHG. boc, mod.G. bock), ON. bukkr (Sw. bock, Da. buk), all meaning primarily ‘he-goat’, though in each of the mod. langs. applied to male animals of the deer kind (in Da. also to the ram):—OTeut. *bukko-z. This was adopted (only in the sense ‘he-goat’) in F. bouc, Pr., Cat. boc, OSp. buco (Diez); also, in same sense, as Welsh bwch, Ir., Gael. boc. The extended form represented by OE. bucca (:—OTeut. *bukkon-) appears to exist in ON. bokki ‘my good fellow, old buck’ (Vigf.), but is otherwise peculiar to English. (With OTeut. *bukko- Fick compares Zend bûza he-goat, also Skr. bukka he-goat; but the Teutonic does not phonetically correspond to these. Franck thinks it doubtful whether the word is native Teutonic, or rather an early adoption from some other language.)]
1. The male of several animals.
†a. The he-goat. Obs. exc. U.S. Phrase, to blow the buck's horn: to have his labour for his pains.
a1000ælfric Lev. v. 23 Gif se ealdor synᵹaþ, bringaþ anne buccan to bote. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 348 Firᵹin buccan þæt ys wudu bucca oððe gat. a1131O.E. Chron. an. 1127 Ða huntes..ridone on swarte hors and on swarte bucces. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 37 Sume men leden here lif alse get oþer buckes. c1386Chaucer Miller's T. 201 Absolon may blowe the bukkes horn. 1387Trevisa Higden (1865) I. 265 A peple þat..beeþ i-cloþed in goot bukkes skynnes. 1551Turner Herbal i. (1568) 59 What hath a whyte fruite..to do with the lykenes of a bukkes bearde? 1869C. L. Brace New West xviii. 237 In the fall of 1861, W. Landrum obtained two bucks from a grower in the State of Georgia.
b. The male of the fallow-deer. (In early use perh. the male of any kind of deer.) buck of the first head, great buck (see quot. 1774).
a1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 119 Ceruus uel eripes, heortbuc. a1240Cuckoo Song 10 Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ. 1393Gower Conf. I. 45 She sigh..The buck, the doo, the hert. c1440Promp. Parv. 55 Buk, best, dama. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. ii. 10 The Deare..was a Bucke of the first head. 1624Capt. Smith Virginia i. 3 He sent vs commonly euery day a brace of Bucks. 1774Goldsmith Nat. Hist. ii. v. (1862) I. 329 The buck is called..the fifth year, a buck of the first head; and the sixth, a great buck.
c. The male of certain other animals resembling deer or goats, as the reindeer, chamois; in S. Africa (after Du. bok) any animal of the antelope kind. Also the male of the hare, the rabbit (the female being called the doe, after analogy of b), and (in quot. 1904) the ferret.
a1674Milton Hist. Mosc. ii. (1851) 484 Being drawn on Sleds with Bucks. 1741Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. i. 300 They [rabbits] are distinguished by the Names of Bucks and Does; and the Males are usually call'd Jack Hares. 1879R. J. Atcherley Boërland 147 We..came repeatedly across large numbers of buck. 1904Westm. Gaz. 11 Oct. 3/1 An old buck broken out of bounds is selfishly disposed.
d. A ram. Also attrib. U.S.
1812Niles' Reg. II. 240/1 The product [of wool] was as follows: a Buck (Judas) 12 lbs. 4 oz. 1852Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. 1851 III. 95 Sheep... Best buck over 2 years old. Ibid. 96 A lot consisting of 1 buck, 3 ewes, 10 ewe lambs and 2 buck lambs. 1948Daily Ardmoreite (Okla.) 25 June 2/2 Choice native spring lambs 29.00; bucks out at 28.00.
e. A short vaulting-horse in a gymnasium. Cf. buck n.7
1932T. McDowell Vaulting v. 23 The hands may be placed on the buck at the finish of the vault. 1952Ld. Justice Singleton in All England Law Rep. II. 790 He split up the class into four parts, and the infant plaintiff was one of a party of ten who were vaulting over what is called a ‘buck’. 1978Daily Mail 30 Nov. 34/1 How many awful moments when once again I stuck on the top of the buck, to the loud laughter of all those lucky girls who leapfrogged so effortlessly every time.
2. transf. Applied to a man (in various associations).
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3212 Þese berdede buckys also..leue crystyn mennys acyse.
b. A gay, dashing fellow; a dandy, fop, ‘fast’ man. Used also as a form of familiar address.
In the 18th c. the word indicated rather the assumption of ‘spirit’ or gaiety of conduct than elegance of dress; the latter notion comes forward early in the 19th century, and still remains, though the word is now arch.
1725New Cant. Dict., Buck, as, A bold Buck, is sometimes used to signify a forward daring Person of either Sex. 1747Gray in Gosse Gray (Eng. Men Lett.) 90 The fellowcommoners—the bucks—are run mad. 1751Fielding Amelia x. ii, A large assembly of young fellows whom they call bucks. 1763Brit. Mag. IV. 261 The libertine supposes it [wisdom] consists in debauchery..the buck and blood, in breaking windows. 1824W. Irving T. Trav. I. 341 The dashing young buck, driving his own equipage. 1854Thackeray Newcomes I. 82, I remember you a buck of bucks when that coat first came out to Calcutta. 1880L. Stephen Pope i. 12 Proud..at being taken by the hand by this elderly buck.
c. slang. (see quot.)
1851Mayhew Lond. Labour 362 (Hoppe) The bucks are unlicensed cabdrivers who are employed by those who have a license to take charge of the cab while the regular drivers are at their meals. 1865Morning Star 14 Sept., What is the prisoner? Constable: He is a ‘buck’, who hangs about an omnibus stand.
d. A man: applied to native Indians of S. America, and to any male Indian, Negro, or Aboriginal. So buck Aborigine, buck Indian, buck Maori, buck Negro, buck nigger. Also (illogically) buck-woman. Chiefly U.S.
1800J. McKenzie Jrnl. 9 Apr. in L. R. Masson Les Bourgeois (1890) II. 385, I..kept the woman to be disposed of in the season when the Peace River bucks look out for women. 1806G. Pinckard Notes West Indies II. 405 The accuracy of the Bucks, in shooting with the long arrow, and in blowing the short poisoned one. 1835Gentleman's Vade-Mecum (Phila.) 17 Jan. 3/6 A buck nigger is worth the slack of two or three hundred dollars. 1840C. F. Hoffmann Greyslaer II. xii. 54 There they lay on the grass, six big buck Injuns, likely fellows all. 1853Southern Lit. Messenger XIX. 221/2 A big buck negro. 1857W. Chandless Visit Salt Lake i. 98 You could not mistake a squaw for a buck Indian. 1879J. W. Boddam-Whetham Roraima 123 Stepping timidly along may also be seen two or three ‘bucks’, as the natives of the interior are called. 1879H. R. Mighels Sage Brush Leaves 167 The buck aborigine takes more solid comfort than the female of his tribe. 1883Congress. Rec. June 4147/1, I told the boys that we wanted 20,000 ‘bucks’, buck niggers, in Indiana this year. 1884Leisure H. Jan. 63/2 ‘Buck’ here [British Guiana] is the name for the South American Indian. 1933F. E. Baume Half-Caste 23 Four bucks from Raglan came in drunk and there was a fight. 1941Baker N.Z. Slang vi. 55 A buck Maori, a large well-built native (a somewhat unwarranted construction on buck nigger). 1951E. A. Mittelholzer Shadows move among Them i. iii. 20 His black smooth Buck hair seemed to gleam. 1958J. Carew Wild Coast xix. 234 Don't talk to me about that Buck-woman. 1964People (Australia) 16 Dec. 2/1 The bucks..strike large boulders said to be the petrified forms of the dingo slayers.
3. Comb.
a. appositive, indicating sex, as buck-fawn, buck-goat, buck-rabbit, buck-rat;
b. objective with vbl. n., as buck-hunting;
c. parasynthetic, as buck-hafted (for buck-horn-hafted); buck-ague (also buck-fever) N. Amer.: see quot. 1872; buck-brush N. Amer., one or other variety of brush on which deer feed; buck-bush U.S., ‘a species of Symphoricarpos, also a buckbrush’ (D.A.); also applied to various Australian shrubs; † buck-hide, -hid, -hood, the game of ‘hide and seek’; buck-pot (cf. sense 2 d), an earthenware pot found in parts of Guyana; buck-rake, a large rake for farm use, freq. fixed to a vehicle (orig. U.S.); buck rarebit, a Welsh rabbit served with a poached egg on top. Also buck-eye, -horn, -hound, -jump, -shot, -skin, -tooth, etc.
1844G. W. Kendall Santa Fé Exped. I. 172 There is a very common disease prevalent among young and inexperienced hunters in Texas, which is known as the ‘*buck ague’. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 208 The buck..makes him speak of buck ague, or buck fever when he wishes to describe the nervous agitation of the inexperienced sportsman. 1894Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 344/1 My confusion..was the direct result of buck-ague. 1933B. Willoughby Alaskans All 146 An instant's ‘buck ague’, a single quiver of the arm, and there would have been a wounded beast in the boat.
1874J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl Shooting ix. 152 Hang up your cartridge bag on a branch of the *buck-brush. 1969Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 22 June 2/3 Leather facing on both [trouser] legs keeps thorns, buck brush and thistle from drawing blood.
1911C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling xxix. 246 We knew it was a lake because of the line of *buck-bush—low tufted shrubs the colour and shape of big cabbages in a Chinaman's garden—that grew along the bed of it. 1918S. S. Visher Geogr. S. Dakota 93 The buck-bush, is a transition stage between grassland and woodland. 1940A. Upfield Bushranger of Skies xi. 125 The growth of buckbush, cotton- and flannel-bush.
1859Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. V. 517/2 At the second year the *‘buck-fawn’ or ‘pricket’ puts forth a simple ‘dag’.
1841S. Lit. Messenger VII. 224/2 If you see a deer..you'll be sure to git the *buck fever. 1955C. S. Forester Good Shepherd 57 He shared the tenseness of the others... He knew that hand would tremble if he allowed it to; this was buck-fever, unmistakably.
c1615Chapman Odyss. ix. 340 Rams, and *buck-goates.
1815Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1843) I. 333 [Resembling]..even to the very handles *Buck-hafted carving knives.
c1450Henryson Mor. Fab. 13 Whiles would he wink, and play with her *buk-hide. a1568in Sibbald Chron. Sc. Poetry III. 237 (Jam.) Scho plaid with me bukhud.
1664Killigrew Parson's Wed. ii. ii, A *buck-hunting-nag. 1741Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. i. 293 The same Dogs are used in Buck-hunting.
1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. iv. i. 986/2 *Buck pot, used in preparing pepper pot.
1838Knickerbocker XI. 447 Your land is so poor that a single *buck-rabbit would make a famine in your whole country. 1915D. H. Lawrence Rainbow (1916) ii. 66 ‘Now my young buck-rabbit,’ he said. ‘Slippy!’
1893Funk's Stand. Dict., *Buck-rake, a two-horse hay-rake having horn-like teeth projecting 6 or 8 feet in front for gathering and transferring hay to a stacker. 1958Times 1 July p.i (caption) Tractor and buckrake cut out the heavy labour.
1927Lindsay & Mottram Man. Mod. Cookery 83 *Buck rarebit. Heat the cheese, milk, and seasoning; pour on to the hot toast. Poach the egg and serve on top of the cheese. 1959P. Bull I know the Face vi. 102 Black coffee with the Buck Rarebits after that ordeal.
1877Gd. Words 11/2 Fierce as a *buck-rat.
4. ellipt. = buck-shot 2. U.S.
1845W. G. Simms Wigwam & Cabin Ser. ii. 107 On using big buck, he numbered two sevens for a load; the small buck, three. 1876Fur, Fin & Feather Sept. 135 The doctor soon drew a bird charge from his gun and loaded it with buck and fired. 1889Century Dict., Buck-and-ball, a cartridge for smooth-bore firearms containing a spherical bullet and three buckshot: now little used.
Sense 1 e in Dict. becomes 1 f. Add: [1.] e. Austral. A male kangaroo.
1845Atlas (Sydney) 26 Apr. 258/1 The large full-grown male is termed a Buck or Boomer, and attains a great size. 1866Cornh. Mag. Dec. 762 Large flocks of kangaroo..the larger males..towered above the flying bucks, flying does and joeys, the half-grown bucks, does, and young ones. 1926W. Turnbull in Le Souef & Burrell Wild Animals of Australasia 177 The bucks grow fairly large, in rare cases almost equal to the Grey. 1968K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 8 A number of roos were resting. The big buck was typical of the reds, standing on his tips about seven feet.
▪ II. † buck, n.2 Obs.
[Abbreviated from the full names buck-wheat, buck-mast.]
1. = buck-wheat.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 40 b, As soone as your rape seede is of [= off]..you may sowe Bucke. 1610Markham Masterp. i. li. 107 Giuing them a certaine graine which we call bucke. 1807Vancouver Agric. Devon (Catalog. Seeds) Buck, or French wheat.
b. running buck: corn bindweed.
1580Baret Alv. B 1424 Renning Bucke or binde corne, a weede so called like vnto withwinde.
2. = buck-mast; beech-mast.
1664Evelyn Sylva (1812) I. 138 In some parts of France they now grind the buck in mills. 1727Bradley Fam. Dict. I. s.v. Beech-tree.
▪ III. buck, n.3 arch. and dial.
Also 6 bucke, bouke, bouck, 9 dial. book, bock.
[In the sense of ‘lye, washing’, evidently belonging to buck v.1, of which it is perh. a direct derivative. Whether sense 1 ‘washing-tub’ (?) has the same origin, or whether the word in this sense is distinct, and to be referred to OE. búc, ? buc, ‘lagena’ (see bowk) is not evident.]
†1. ? A washing tub, a vat in which to steep clothes in lye.
1530Palsgr. 201/2 Bucke to wasshe clothes in, cvuier.
2. Lye in which linen, yarn, or cloth, is steeped or boiled as a first step in the process of buck-washing or bleaching.
[1530Palsgr. 200/1 Bouke of clothes, buée.] 1560Whitehorne Ord. Souldiours (1588) 45 b, Take of ..ashes that haue serued in a buck.. halfe a part. 1615Markham Eng. Housew. ii. v. (1668) 139 Give it..a couple of clean Bucks, the next fortnight following. 1721Bailey, Buck, a Lye made of Ashes. 1808–25Jamieson Dict., Bouk, a lye made of cow's dung and stale urine or soapy water, in which foul linen is steeped in order to its being cleansed or whitened.
3. A quantity of clothes, cloth, or yarn, put through the process of bucking, in buckwashing or bleaching; the quantity of clothes washed at once, a ‘wash’. to lay the buck: to lay to steep in lye. to drive the buck: to carry through the process of bucking.
1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. (1557) 428/2 A womanne washeth a bucke of clothes. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 166 Maides, three a clock, knede, lay your bucks, or go brew. 1603Harsnet Pop. Impost. 26 Being one day in the kitchen wringing out a Bucke of Cloathes. 1648Herrick Cheap Laundress, The laundresses, they envie her good-luck, Who can with so small charges drive the buck. 1719D'Urfey Pills (1872) V. 58 A jolly brown Wench, a-washing of her Buck. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Bucking, To drive a buck of yarn, they first cover the bottom of the bucking tub with fine ashes of the ash-tree, etc. 1862Barnes Rhymes Dorset Dial. I. 159 She can iron up an' vwold A book o' clothes wi young or wold. 1869Blackmore Lorna D. xxxii. (ed. 12) 198 She..pointed to the great bock of wash.
†4. See quot.: but cf. buck v.5, bucking4. Obs.
1683Pettus Fleta Min. i. (1686) 109 It is better..that the Oars..were brought under the Buck or washing place.
5. Comb., as buck-basket, buck-clothes, buck-sheet, buck-vat; buck-ashes, ashes which have served for making lye, formerly used as manure; † buck-house, a house for ‘bucking’ in; buck-lye (see quot.) Also buck-washing.
1563T. Hill Art Garden. (1593) xlix, Sage is..to bee couered about with *Bucke ashes.
1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. v. 86 In her inuention..they conuey'd me into a *bucke-basket. 1881Grant White Eng. without & w. 186 To sprinkle clothes that lay in a large buck-basket.
1623Mabbe Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 54, I did not goe dropping through the streets like a basket of *Buck-cloathes.
1620Unton Inventories (1841) 28 In the Wash howse and Well howse one *Bouckfatt.
1738Belfast Newsp. in Antrim & Down Gloss. (E.D.S.) 14 A good *buck-house, about 80 feet long, with a well-watered bleaching green.
1632Sherwood, *Bucke-lie, buee. 1879G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Wd.-bk., Buck-lee, a lye of wood-ashes obtained from burning green ‘brash’ or fern, the latter being esteemed the best.
▪ IV. buck, n.4|bʌk|
A large basket used to catch eels; on the river Thames: a wooden framework at a weir, supporting eel-baskets. Also eel-buck, (eel n. 6), and attrib., as in buck gate, buck-stage.
1694Act 6 & 7 Will. & Mary c. 16 Preamble, For the..convenience of the Navigation [of the Thames] there..are diverse Lockes Weares Buckes Winches..and other Engines. 1791Rep. Committees Ho. Comm. (1803) XIV. 263/2 (Thames & Isis) The difficulties made by the millers and fishermen, of drawing their bucks and sluices. 1791R. Mylne 2nd Rep. Thames Navig. 12 Nuneham Wear..is now used as a Fishery only, having a Tumbling, solid Wear, and two sets of Buck Gates. 1798Sporting Mag. XII. 7 Having laid down our bucks in the river Loddon..we missed one. 1851Kingsley Yeast iii. 43 The river fell over a high weir, with all its appendages of bucks and hatchways, and eel-baskets. Ibid. 53 Help me out along the buck-stage, said Lancelot. 1857–8Act 29 & 30 Vict. lxxxix. Preamb., Certain persons..claim a Right..to fish with Nets or Bucks in Parts of the Thames. 1867F. Francis Angling iii. (1880) 90 Large baskets called ‘bucks’. 1902Thames Conserv. Bye-Laws Regul. Thames 32 No person shall without the previous consent of the Conservators erect any new buck or weir.
▪ V. buck, n.5
[perh. a form of bouk, OE. búc belly, body, trunk, etc.; cf. senses 1, 2 (if these are genuine, and rightly placed here). But the phonetic history is not clear, though the shortening of long ú is found in suck:—súcan.]
†1. ? The body of an animal, a carcase. Obs.
1592Acts James VI (1814) 577 (Jam.) Sic derth is rasit in the cuntrie that ane mutton buck is deirar and far surmountis the price of ane boll of quheit.
†2. ? Belly. Obs.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 515 The ventricle [in swine] is large to receive much meat, and to concoct it perfectly, we call it vulgarly the Buck. 1691[see sense 3].
3. The body of a cart or wagon. dial.
1691Ray S. & E. Country Wds., Buck the breast. Suss. It is used for the body, or the trunck of the body. ‘The buck of a cart’, i.e. the body of a cart. 1767A. Young Farmer's Lett. People 273 These waggons..should..have very stout hanging-boards..projecting, about fourteen or sixteen inches from the buck, over the wheels. 1881Evans Leicestersh. Wds. (E.D.S.) Buck, the front part of the body of a cart or waggon, generally constructed with a ledge at the top called the ‘fore-buck’.
4. ‘A T-shaped end to the plough-beam, having notches in it for the purpose of regulating the draught of the plough. The ‘shackle’ goes into it to which the horses are yoked.’ Miss Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk.
1562Wills & Inv. N.C. (1835) 207 J wayne heade shakle, j waynehead yoke..j bucshackill. 1688Holme Armoury iii. viii. 332 The Buck [of a plow] is the iron which the Horses are tyed unto.
5. Comb. buck-cart, U.S., species of vehicle; buck-rail S.Afr., the rail of a buck-wagon; buck-sail S.Afr. [partial tr. Afrikaans bokseil], a large canvas or tarpaulin, esp. one used to cover a buck-wagon; buck-wagon U.S. and S.Afr., a type of vehicle.
1884Chr. World 7 Aug. 598/3, I have just had a ride in a *buckcart.
1896H. A. Bryden Tales S. Afr. viii. 182 The tent I've fastened on to the *buck-rail. 1955W. Robertson Blue Wagon iv. 35 The wagon canted over at an angle with the buckrails below the surface [of the water].
1882Mrs. Heckford Lady Trader in Transvaal i. 11 An open buck⁓waggon..with a tarpaulin, or what is here called ‘a *buck⁓sail’, thrown over it to protect the goods. 1961Argosy Mar. 20 Caught in a summer storm with only a buck sail thrown over the cart to protect him from the rain.
1864Webster, *Buckwagon. 1870in S. H. Pellissier J. P. Pellissier van Bethulie (1956) 662 Buckwagons, (empty,) drawn by 16 Oxen. 1877G. McKiernan Jrnl. 27 June (1954) 121 James' buck wagon broke the king bolt before we got off the place. 1947H. Vaughan-Williams Visit to Lobengula 1889 iv. 13 We bought two full-sized buck⁓wagons, half tented for sleeping in.
▪ VI. † buck, n.6 Obs. rare.
The action of buck v.2
1610J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xiv. (1660) 166 You shall say Hart or Conie goeth to his Buck.
▪ VII. buck, n.7 U.S.
[a. Du. zaag-boc, G. sägebock, or shortly bock; the same word as bock goat; so F. chèvre.]
A frame or stand of two crotches connected by bars, serving as a rest for pieces of wood while being cross-cut; a saw-buck.
1817J. K. Paulding Lett. from South I. 189 He bought himself a buck and saw, and became a redoubtable sawyer. 1839C. F. Briggs Harry Franco II. i. 2 There were also wood sawyers sitting listlessly on their bucks.
In Comb. buck-saw, a heavy kind of frame-saw used with a buck.
▪ VIII. buck, n.8 slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.).|bʌk|
[Origin obscure.]
A dollar.
1856Dem. State Jrnl. (Sacramento) 3 July 3/2 Bernard, assault and battery upon Wm. Croft, mulcted in the sum of twenty bucks. 1896Ade Artie xii. 106 Jimmy can afford to buy wine at four bucks a throw when he's only getting three a week out o' the job. 1921Blackw. Mag. Aug. 264/2, I wonder if I've done right forking out five bucks. 1927M. de la Roche Jalna xi. 116 He's afraid some of us will want to borrow a few bucks. 1953A. Baron Human Kind 183 ‘What did you do before the war?’..‘Anythin' fer a buck.’ 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Mag.) 17 Feb. 5 If you are a supporter of the profit motive in your own life and good times, blame no one. This is strictly a matter of bucks, like selling meat.
▪ IX. buck, n.9|bʌk|
[Origin obscure.]
An article used in the game of poker; to pass the buck (see quot. 1887). U.S.
1865Weekly New Mexican 14 July 1/3 They draw at the commissary, and at poker after they have passed the ‘buck’. 1872‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It xlvii. 332, I reckon I can't call that hand. Ante and pass the buck. 1887J. W. Keller Draw Poker 38 They resort to the bold and ludicrous experiment of ‘passing the buck’. The ‘buck’ is any inanimate object, usually knife or pencil, which is thrown into a jack pot and temporarily taken by the winner of the pot. Whenever the deal reaches the holder of the ‘buck’, a new jack pot must be made.
b. fig. to pass the buck (to), to shift responsibility (to another). colloq. (orig. U.S.). Hence buck-passing vbl. n.; buck-passer, one who passes the buck. the buck stops here: H. S. Truman's phrase for ‘the responsibility rests here’, i.e. the buck cannot be passed any further (see quot. 1952). orig. U.S.
1912W. Irwin Red Button 341 The Big Commissioner will get roasted by the papers and hand it to the Deputy Comish, and the Deputy will pass the buck down to me, and I'll have to report how it happened. 1932E. Wilson Devil take Hindmost viii. 79 He invariably passes the buck to his subordinates. 1933E. Cunningham Buckaroo 110 ‘Why, you lying buck-passer!’ cried Dud, indignantly. 1933New Republic 22 Nov. 37/1 (heading) Some Expert Buck-Passing. 1952H. S. Truman Public Papers, 1952–53 (1966) 1094/2 When the decision is up before you—and on my desk I have a motto which says ‘The buck stops here’—the decision has to be made. 1955A. L. Rowse Expansion Eliz. Eng. x. 404 He [sc. Sir Francis Vere] is very good at passing the buck. 1959Listener 15 Jan. 92/1 No one is less a buck-passer than is President de Gaulle. 1963Times Lit. Suppl. 24 May 365/2 A human element of buck-passing and self-exculpation. 1968A. Storr Human Aggression xii. 113 Yet a recent President of the United States found it necessary to have a reminder on his desk that ‘The buck stops here’ as if he could not quite believe in the reality of his own ultimate responsibility. 1979Guardian 2 May 28/7 Mr Callaghan sought the sympathy of the electorate..‘The buck stops here.’
▪ X. buck, n.10|bʌk|
[f. buck v.3]
An act of bucking; the power to buck. Cf. buck-jump.
a1877in Chicago Tribune (Bartlett), The buck consists of the mustang's springing forward with quick, short, plunging leaps, and coming down stiff-legged [etc.]. 1883Sweet & Knox Through Texas 69 If there had been any buck in them, it would have developed itself at an early stage in the journey. 1890L. D'Oyle Notches 34 In two months from now the worst ‘buckers’ amongst them will not have a ‘buck’ left in them. 1908Somerville & ‘Ross’ Further Exp. Irish R.M. v, The white horse got over the ground in bucks like a rabbit. 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 14 Buck, the plunge of a horse in ‘bucking’.
b. A try, an attempt. Austral. and N.Z. colloq.
1913A. Bathgate Sodger Sandy's Bairn ix. 71 I've a mind to have a buck at this new rush myself. 1941Alley & Hall Farmer in N.Z. iv. 104 Readiness to ‘try anything once’, or to ‘give it a buck’ when some innovation swims into its ken. 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 14 Give it a buck, make an attempt at (something); to try. Also, ‘have a buck at’.
▪ XI. buck, n.11 slang.|bʌk|
Also bukh.
[a. Hind. bak, Hindi buk buk.]
Talk, conversation; spec. boastful, bragging talk; insolence; esp. in phr. old buck.
1895B. M. Croker Village Tales (1896) 20 Having a ‘bukh’ with the elders. 1912A. M. N. Lyons Clara x. 99 We've 'ad enough of your old buck. 1941Penguin New Writing III. 64 Nah then, none o' yer ol' buck, Ernie.
▪ XII. buck, a.1
[The stem of buck v.1 used attrib. = bucking.]
Of rain: Soaking, heavy.
1759Ellis Pract. Farmer 19 in Britten Old Country Wds. (E.D.S.) Lest the buck rains (as the farmers call them) fall fast and harden the ground.
▪ XIII. buck, a.2 U.S. slang.|bʌk|
[Prob. f. buck n.1 2.]
Belonging to the lowest grade of a specific military rank.
1918H. C. Witwer Baseball to Boches iii. 109 Here I am nothin' but a buck private, and I been in the army goin' on four months! 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 37 Buck,..a U.S. Army term for a Private, a smart soldier—a Buck Private. 1955H. Roth Sleeper iii. 22 He had acquired the rank of buck sergeant. 1962Times 14 June 15/4 From general officer to buck private.
▪ XIV. † buck, v.1 Obs. exc. dial.
Also 4 bouken, 5 bowke, 5–6 bucke, bouck, 9 Sc. bouk.
[ME. bouken, bowken, answering to an OE. type *búcian not found. Cognate words appear both in Teut. and Romanic; cf. OHG. *bûhhen, MHG. bûchen, Ger. bäuchen, beuchen, LG. büken, Sw. byka, to steep in lye; Ger. beuche, Sw. byk lye, a wash of clothes. Also F. buer:—L. type *bucāre to steep in lye, wash clothes, It. bucata, Sp. bugada, F. buée lye, a wash of clothes. The relation of the Teutonic and Romanic words is not settled: Kluge thinks the Teutonic may be original: see also Diez, and cf. buck n.3]
1. trans. To steep or boil in an alkaline lye as a first process in buck-washing, or bleaching.
1377Langland P. Plowman B. xiv. 19 Dowel [shal] wasshen it..Dobet shal beten it and bouken it. 1413Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle i. xxv. (1859) 30 She hadde bathyd, bowkid hym, and strongly wesshen hym. 1530Palsgr. 472/1 Bucke these shyrtes, for they be to foule to be wasshed by hande. 1562W. Bullein Bk. Simples, &c. 33 a, This venemous herbe..women use to bucke their clothes with. 1615Markham Eng. Housew. ii. v. (1668) 139 Buck it with Lie and green Hemlocks. 1720Stow's Surv. (ed. Strype 1754) I. i. xxvi. 207/2 Juniper ashes to buck their clothes. 1820Glenfergus III. 84 (Jam.) [They] had them [their necks and arms] boukit an' graithed.
2. transf. To drench, soak.
1494Fabyan Chron. vii. ccxliii. 284 Fell such plente of water, yt the grounde was therwith..bucked and drowned. 1619R. Harris Drunkard's Cup 21 Our brethren..whilest they bee buckt with drinke, and then laid out to be sunn'd and scorned.
▪ XV. buck, v.2|bʌk|
[f. buck n.1]
To copulate with; said of male rabbits and some other animals.
1530Palsgr. 472/1 Konyes buck every moneth. 1575Turberv. Bk. Venerie lxiii. 178 The Conie..must be bucked againe, for els she will eate vp hir Rabets. 1616Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farm 315. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. i. 303.
▪ XVI. buck, v.3|bʌk|
[f. buck n.1]
intr. Of a horse: To leap vertically from the ground, drawing the feet together like a deer, and arching the back. Also trans. to buck off, and refl. Cf. buckjump.
1848H. W. Haygarth Bush Life in Australia vii. 78 Australian horses have a vicious habit known as ‘buck-jumping’, or as it is more familiarly called, ‘bucking’. 1859[see bucking vbl. n.3]. 1880Blackw. Mag. Feb. 164 When a horse bucks heavily. 1881Cheq. Career 38 He bucked me off more times than I can remember. 1923Outward Bound Mar. 408/2 Many ambitious young horses have bucked themselves to a finish without dislodging my cargo.
▪ XVII. buck, v.4 U.S.|bʌk|
[perh. from buck n.7]
trans. To lay across a log.
1865Morning Star Oct., He also saw men bucked by order of Wirtz for attempting to escape. 1879Tourgee Fool's Err. 73 Dragging the ministers from the pulpit, bucking them across a log, and beating them.
▪ XVIII. buck, v.5 Mining.|bʌk|
[Cf. Du. boken, boocken ‘to beat or to strike’, Hexham.]
trans. To break ore very small with a bucker. Cf. bucking vbl. n.4 Also buck-work v.
1683Pettus Fleta Min. i. (1686) 243 The flinty copper Oars..may very easily..be buck'd through. 1769Nat. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 102 note, To buck or buckwork the ore is a technical term among miners for beating or reducing the ore to a small sand. 1846Specimens Cornish Dial. 22 [He] Trudg'd hum fram Bal fram bucking copper ore.
▪ XIX. buck, v.6|bʌk|
[? corruption of butt, associated with buck n.1]
1. trans. To butt. dial. & U.S.
1750Ellis Country Housew. 174 in Britten Old Country Wds. (E.D.S.) Many of these kickers are very apt and prone to buck other cows..for which reasons, all cows should have wooden tips fastened to the end of their horns. 1834M. Scott Cruise Midge (1863) 170 The pet lamb..was making believe to buck him with its head. 1848–60in Bartlett.
2. intr. Of persons. Chiefly fig. with against or at. orig. U.S.
1857San Fransisco Call 21 May 3/1 They think it hardly worth while to ‘buck’ against the present law prohibiting the pursuit of their ‘science’. 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2), To buck, used instead of butt,..metaphorically of players at football and such games, pugilists, etc. 1870in Schele de Vere Amer. (1872) 327 You'll have to buck at it like a whole team, gentlemen, or you won't hear the whistle near your diggings for many a year. 1900G. Bonner Hard-Pan ii. 41 There's no good bucking against bad luck. 1906E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands 76 Well, if we're mostly earth t' begin with, where's ther sense in buckin' at er bit extry on the outside. 1930J. Devanny Bushman Burke xvii. 100 The houses were terrible shacks whose shelter..a dog would ‘buck at’.
3. trans. To butt into or against. Freq. fig., to come up against, find oneself opposed to, oppose. orig. U.S.
1861Harper's Mag. July 276/1 Mr. Fusilbury..was in a dream of philosophy, bucking a lamp-post. 1891C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 114 There was a snow plough with two engines to it ‘bucking the snow’ (as the expression goes here). 1904C. J. Steedman Bucking the Sagebrush ii. 14 If any convert..bucked the authority of the Church, he disappeared from his ‘sphere of influence’. 1929Publishers' Weekly 14 May 2456/2 It is wasted time and energy to try to buck any legitimate movement, and I think it is time and energy wasted for you men to attempt to buck the book clubs. 1947Time 3 Feb. 68/1 In winter months they buck four to ten foot drifts. 1959R. Collier City that wouldn't Die vii. 101 Duty won; you didn't buck an order from the chief of the Luftwaffe.
▪ XX. buck, v.7 dial. or colloq.
[f. buck n.1 2.]
1. In buck up (trans., and intr. for refl.): To dress up.
1854L. H. de Bonelli Travels in Bolivia I. 28 The young gentlemen of our party began to buck up and tried to outvie each other in doing the amiable. 1875in Lanc. Gloss. (E.D.S.) 60 ‘Hello, Jim, what art' bucked-up for?’
2. to buck up.
a. intr. To cheer up, be encouraged. Also trans. in causal sense.
1844Graham's Mag. Jan. 38 ‘I don't see the trouble,’ said Mrs Fitzgig, ‘why can't a man buck up?’ 1889Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang s.v., (Winchester College)..to ‘buck up’ is to be glad. 1890Farmer Slang, Buck up,..(Winchester College), to be glad; pleased... The usual expression is ‘Oh buck up’, a phrase which at Westminster School would have a very different meaning, namely, ‘exert yourself’. 1894Punch 27 Oct. 193/1 Buck up, mate; you've no call to be yaller, nor a perminent bloo, heither! 1901W. H. Lawson et al. Winchester Coll. Notions 14 Buck up, Hurrah! The original meaning, which is still used. Hence later:—Cheer up, hurry up. 1906B. von Hutten What became of Pam ii. ix, Don't spoil it all by being weepy... Come, buck up, like a dear, and wish me joy. 1909H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay ii. ii. §1 Never saw her so larky. This has bucked her up something wonderful. 1910W. J. Locke Simon the Jester xviii, Now and again one does help a lame dog over a stile which bucks one up, you know. 1926W. R. Inge Lay Thoughts of a Dean 233, I asked the medical members..in particular whether it was impossible that microbic diseases..might be benefited by ‘bucking up’ the patient. 1966‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 37 As if to buck us up after our recent loss, he promised us poultry on the table.
b. intr. To make an effort, to ‘brace up’; to hurry up.
1890[see 2 a]. 1909H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay i. i. §8 It was equally impossible for him to either buck-up and beat me, or give in. 1910W. J. Locke Simon the Jester ii, You must buck up a bit, Simon, and get your name better known about the country. 1913‘Ian Hay’ Happy-go-lucky i, ‘Hallo, you fellows—finished?’ ‘Yes, buck up!’ commanded Rumbold.
▪ XXI. buck, v.8 U.S.|bʌk|
[Origin obscure, but cf. buck n.9]
1. intr. To play at a game of chance. Usu. with against or at. Also fig. Hence to buck the tiger (see tiger n. 9 a).
1849New Orleans Picayune 18 May 1/6, I left them ‘bucking’ away, desiring only once more to ‘get even’. 1869B. Harte Luck of Roaring Camp (1871) 95 Why don't you say you want to buck agin' Faro? 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 327 The fact that players at Three-Card Monte..are said to buck at monte, causes the familiar phrase of bucking at anything. 1898H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 109 The man who bucks against that kind of game is a fool.
2. trans. To bet or lose (money) in gambling.
1851Alta California 8 July (D.A.), The money Percy took to the El Dorado, where he duly bucked it off against a faro bank. 1851L. Clappe Lett. from Calif. (1922) 121 Little John was..betting, or, to speak technically, ‘bucking’ away large sums at monte.
▪ XXII. buck, v.9 N. Amer.|bʌk|
[f. buck n.7]
To cut (wood) with a buck-saw.
1870Philad. Press 8 Jan., [The] Pennsylvanian does not saw wood; he ‘bucks’ it. 1905Terms Forestry & Logging (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 31 Buck, to saw felled trees into logs (Pacific Coast Forest). 1953Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol. I. 21 To buck, to cut felled trees into any required lengths (Canada). 1964Times 18 Sept. 13/7 One lumber executive..can still buck a log. 1969Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 16 Nov. 3/3 The tree had to be bucked into seven lengths varying in size from 10 to 40 feet.
▪ XXIII. buck, v.10 slang.|bʌk|
Also bukh, bukk.
[Cf. buck n.11]
intr. To swagger, talk big or bumptiously, brag.
1880G. Aberigh-Mackay 21 Days in India 164 He bucks with a quiet, stubborn determination that would fill an American editor..with despair. 1890Kipling Many Invent. (1893) 27 You're ordered to bukh. 1895B. M. Croker Village Tales (1896) 157 Those who were wont to assemble..of an evening to smoke, argue, and bukh. 1899Daily News 6 June 8/4 There is not much in this for Etonians to ‘buck’ about. 1921Blackw. Mag. Apr. 517/2 Arthur and I have ‘bukked’ till we're hoarse. |
