buck

BUK/bʌk/

Pluralbucks

Verbbucks, bucking, bucked

45 meanings of buck

Practice

1
dollar billnouncolloquialUSCanadaAustraliaNew ZealandSouth Africacountable
An everyday word for a dollar. In South Africa it means a rand.
Can you lend me a buck for the bus?
This candy only costs a buck.
Similardollar
Note
2
nouncolloquialAustraliaSouth AfricaUScountable
Cash, or money thought of as a thing to earn or spend.
She moved to the city to make a quick buck.
Some people will do anything for a buck.
UsageMake a quick buck means get money fast and easily.
Similardollar, money, living
Note
3
male animalnouncountable
A male deer, rabbit, goat, or similar animal.
The buck leaped over the fence into the woods.
Two bucks were grazing near the river at dawn.
Note
4
leap and kickverbintransitive
Of a horse, to jump and kick its back legs up, often to throw off its rider.
The pony began to buck as soon as the saddle touched its back.
The wild horse bucked until the cowboy finally fell off.
UsageA horse can buck its rider off.
Note
5
resistverbtransitive or intransitive
To fight against something or go against it, as in 'buck the trend.'
Workers began to buck when the new rules were announced.
He bucked at every suggestion the committee made.
UsageSay buck the trend or buck against the rules.
Similardefy, resist, oppose, flout
Oppositeobey, follow
6
blamenouncolloquialuncountable
Blame or responsibility that someone tries to pass to another person.
She passed the buck to her coworker instead of admitting the error.
The manager said the buck stops with him when things go wrong.
UsagePass the buck means make someone else take the blame.
Similarblame, responsibility
Note
7
verbintransitive
To move in a sudden, jerky, uneven way.
The old truck began to buck as it climbed the steep hill.
The engine bucked a few times before it died.
Similarjerk, lurch, jolt, judder, shudder

Less common meanings

8
dashing young mannouncountable
A bold, lively, stylish young man.
The young buck strutted into the party in his finest clothes.
A few young bucks were racing their cars down the empty road.
UsageUsually young buck.
Similardaredevil, blade
Note
9
a hundred (slang)nounslangUScountable
One hundred, often of dollars or of miles an hour.
The speedometer hit a buck as he raced down the empty highway.
My uncle weighs about a buck sixty after his long diet.
Similarhundred, ton
Note
10
shotgun pelletsnounUSabbreviationclipping
Short for buckshot: large balls, usually of lead, fired from a shotgun at deer and other big animals.
He loaded the shotgun with buck before the hunt.
A single shell of buck can bring down a deer.
Note
11
nounAfricacountable
In parts of Africa, an antelope, male or female.
A small buck darted across the road in the game park.
On safari, we watched a mother buck and her baby drink.
Similarantelope
Note
12
sawing framenouncountable
A wooden frame used to hold logs while you saw them.
He laid the log across the buck and started sawing.
The old buck in the shed still holds firewood steady.
Similarsawhorse, trestle
Note
13
animals matingverbintransitive
Of animals like deer or rabbits, to mate.
Similarmate, breed, copulate
14
turn markernoundatedcountable
An object passed around a table to show whose turn it is to deal or act.
Like a sticker that shows whose turn it is in a game.
When the buck reached him, it was his turn to deal.
Grandpa's poker club still uses a wooden buck to show who deals.
Similarmarker, button
Note
15
strive forverbslangUSintransitive
To work hard and push for something, such as a promotion.
Like reaching as high as you can to grab the top shelf.
She's been bucking for a raise all year.
He wants to buck for the team lead job.
Similarangle, push, strive, campaign, gun
Note
16
cocktailnouncountable
An alcoholic drink made with a spirit, lemon or lime juice, and ginger ale or ginger beer.
She ordered a buck with extra lime at the bar.
They mixed a round of bucks for the party on the patio.
17
verbeuphemistichumorousIrelandtransitive or intransitive
To have sex with someone.
He swore he'd never buck anyone on a first date.
The two of them bucked all weekend, by his telling.
Similarbonk, shag
Note
18
verbintransitive
To bend or give way under pressure or weight.
The old shelf began to buck under the weight of the books.
The metal sheet bucked in the intense heat.
Similarbuckle, bend, flex, heave
Note
19
bragverbarchaicintransitive
To talk proudly about yourself, or to brag.
Note
20
noun
One million dollars, in financial slang.
21
noun
A padded, leather-covered frame that gymnasts jump or vault over.
22
verb
To cut a fallen tree into shorter pieces, often for firewood.
23
verb
To hold a metal bar against a rivet so it spreads and sets tightly.
24
verb
To lower a voltage so the output is less than the input.
25
noun
A wood or metal frame that helps shape sheet metal car panels.
26
noundatedUS
An old, rude and hurtful word for a Black or Native American man.
27
nounobsoleteBritish
A man who cares too much about fancy clothes and looks.
This pusillanimous creature thinks himself, and would be thought, a buck.
1808, Alexander Chalmers, editor
28
nounslangUS
A soldier with the lowest rank.
29
nounobsoleteUK
An old British coin worth six pennies.
30
noundialectalUK
The wooden body of an old windmill that turns on a single post to face the wind.
31
noundated
A kind of fast step dance that led to tap dancing.
32
noundated
An extra big glass ball kids use when playing marbles.
33
nounobsoleteUK
Someone who drives a cab without a license.
34
verb
To punish someone by tying them in a crouch with a stick behind the knees.
35
verbdialectalMulticultural London English
To meet or find someone or something by chance.
36
noundialectalScotland
The beech, a tree with smooth gray bark and small nuts.
37
nounarchaic
Water mixed with lye or soap, used for whitening cloth or washing clothes.
38
nounarchaic
Fabric or laundry being soaked or washed in water with lye or soap.
Buck! I would I could wash myself of the buck!
c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”
39
verbarchaic
To soak or boil cloth in lye or soapy water to whiten it.
40
verbarchaic
To clean laundry with lye or soap, or later by pounding it on rocks in a stream.
41
verbarchaic
To break rock with metal in it into small bits.
This [ore mixture] was bucked or cobbed down to a 'peasy' size (i.e. the size of a pea) or less, using a flat-bottomed bucking hammer, and then riddled into coarse peasy and finer (sand-sized) 'smitham' grades.
1991, Joan Day, R. F. Tylecote
42
nounarchaicUK
A wagon or cart's main body, most often its front section.
43
nounarchaicUK
The front of the body, the chest or stomach.
44
nounarchaicUK
How big something is.
45
verbarchaicUK
To get bigger and puff out.

More uses

bucktoothan upper front tooth that sticks out

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of buck apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–3, 6, 8–14, 16

It comes from Old English words meaning a he-goat or stag. Later, in American English, 'buck' meant a dollar, from 'buckskin' used in trade, and possibly from a marker used in poker to show whose turn it was.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

Buck descends from Old English bucca, meaning a he-goat. en.wiktionary.org
Old English bucc, meaning a male deer, also contributed to buck. en.wiktionary.org
The American English currency sense derives from buckskin used as a unit of trade. en.wiktionary.org
A poker marker indicated whose turn it was to deal; its use has been proposed as another origin of buck meaning dollar. en.wikipedia.org

Meanings 4–5, 7, 15, 17–18

It comes from a dialect word 'buck' meaning to yield or bend, from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch words meaning 'to bend', going back to an old root meaning 'to bend'.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

The verb comes from dialectal buck meaning to yield or bend. en.wiktionary.org
The dialect word derives from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch words meaning to bend. en.wiktionary.org
Its ancestry includes an old root meaning to bend. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 19

It comes from the Hindi word baknā, meaning to babble or talk nonsense.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

Buck, in the sense of boasting or bragging, comes from Hindi baknā. en.wiktionary.org
Hindi baknā means to babble or talk nonsense. en.wiktionary.org