buckle
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbʌkəl/
ipa: [ˈbʌkɫ̩]
homophone: buccal
rhymes: -ʌkəl
Forms: form: buckles
form: buckling
form: buckled
form: buckled
Etymology: Origin uncertain. Probably from Middle English bokelen (“to arch the body”), from Middle French boucler (“to bulge”, literally “to take the shape of a shield boss”), from the same ultimate origin as Etymology 1 above. In some senses, possibly from buck (“to bend, yield, buckle”) + -le (frequentative suffix).
Senses: examples: text: [R]eaſon doth buckle and bovve the Mind vnto the Nature of things.
ref: 1605, Francis Bacon, “The Second Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC, folio 18, recto:
text: Throw all their ſcandalous malice upon me? / 'Cauſe I am poor, deform'd and ignorant, / And like a Bow buckl'd and bent together, / By ſome more ſtrong in miſchiefs then my ſelf?
ref: 1621 (date written; published 1658), w:William Rowley, Thomas Dekker, John Ford, “The Witch of Edmonton: A Known True Story. […]”, in The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker […], volume IV, London: John Pearson […], published 1873, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 365:
glosses: To cause (something) to bend, or to become distorted.
glosses: To curl (hair).
examples: text: And as the vvretch vvhoſe feuer-vveakned ioynts, / Like ſtrengthleſſe hinges buckle vnder life, / […] euen ſo my limbes, / VVeakened vvith griefe, being novv enragde vvith griefe, / Are thrice themſelues: […]
ref: c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], signature [A4], verso:
text: And thus by placing Collers vvhere ever they find the VVork buckle, they (as aforeſaid) vvith Sharp Tools, tender touches, ſomevvhat a looſe and fine String, vveak Bovv, and great care and diligence vvork the vvhole Cilinder dovvn as ſmall as they liſt, either vvith Moldings or other VVork upon it, as beſt likes them.
ref: 1680, Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] XIII. Applied to the Art of Turning.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1678, →OCLC, § XVI (Of Turning Long and Slender Work of Ivory), page 222:
text: Sideways leaning, we sideways darted; every ropeyarn tingling like a wire; the two tall masts buckling like Indian canes in land tornadoes.
ref: 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Wheelbarrow”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 66:
text: Perhaps as startling as the sheer toll was the devastation to some of the state's well-known locales. Boardwalks along the beach in Seaside Heights, Belmar and other towns on the Jersey Shore were blown away. Amusement parks, arcades and restaurants all but vanished. Bridges to barrier islands buckled, preventing residents from even inspecting the damage to their property.
ref: 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, “New Jersey reels from storm's thrashing”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Apr 2023:
synonyms: cave#Verb
cave in#Verb
crumple#Verb
fold#English:_fall over or collapse
glosses: Of a thing (especially a slender structure under compression): to collapse or distort under physical pressure.
examples: text: It is amazing that he has never buckled after so many years of doing such urgent work.
text: Mr. Gray did tell me to-night, for certain, that the Dutch, as high as they seem, do begin to buckle; and that one man in this Kingdom did tell the King that he is offered £40,000 to make a peace, and others have been offered money also.
ref: 1664 December 27 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “December 17th, 1664”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume IV, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1894, →OCLC, page 309:
synonyms: break#Verb
buck#Etymology_2
cave#Verb
crumple#Verb
fold#English:_give way or give up
surrender#Verb
glosses: Of a person: to (suddenly) cease resisting pressure or stress; to give in or give way, to yield.
Derived terms: word: buckled
word: buckle under
word: buckling