buck
buck Lexical Profile
buck Game Scores & Validity
• noun
North American An informal term for one dollar (in the United States, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand).
"The paperback book only cost five bucks at the neighborhood yard sale."
The adult male of various horned or antlered mammals, such as deer, antelopes, goats, and sheep, as well as smaller mammals like rabbits, hares, and kangaroos.
"A large white-tailed buck with ten-point antlers stepped cautiously into the forest clearing."
Responsibility or blame that may be shifted from one person to another, originally referencing a marker passed between players in poker.
"Instead of passing the buck to his subordinates, the director accepted full accountability for the delay."
• verb
To leap upward suddenly with the head lowered and the back arched, kicking out the hind legs (especially of a horse or mule trying to throw off a rider).
"The startled bronco began to buck wildly as soon as the chute gates opened."
To oppose, resist, or defy an established trend, rule, or authority.
"The independent bookstore managed to buck the industry trend and expand its sales this year."
To move or jerk violently with sudden, uneven jolts (of a vehicle or machine).
"The old tractor began to buck and sputter as it climbed the rocky incline."
• Rhymes for buck
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'buc' (male deer) and 'bucca' (he-goat), descending from Proto-Germanic '*bukkaz'. The informal sense meaning 'a dollar' emerged on the 18th-century American frontier, where deerskins (buckskins) were widely used as a unit of trade.