Other forms: buckles, buckling, buckled
A buckle is the metal clasp that holds a belt shut — the frame with a pin that goes through one of the holes. Shoes have them, watch straps have them, and a rucksack has the plastic kind that clicks.
As a verb it means to fasten with one: buckle your belt, buckle the child into the seat, buckle up before we go. The second verb meaning has nothing to do with fastening — it is to bend or give way under strain, so the wheel buckled, the metal buckled in the heat, and a person buckles under questioning. Context keeps them apart, but notice that 'the gate buckled' and 'he buckled the gate' describe opposite kinds of event. 'Buckle down' is a third use again, meaning to start working seriously: buckle down and finish the essay. One belt has one buckle and many holes, and the little pin is called the tongue, if you ever need the word.
1nounbuckleA metal or plastic clasp for fastening a belt or strap.
“The buckle on his watch strap had worn thin.”
synonyms: clasp, fastener
2verbfastenTo fasten something with a buckle.
“She buckled the toddler into his car seat.”
3verbbendTo bend or collapse under weight or pressure.
“The shelf buckled under the weight of the encyclopedias.”
A buckle started life on a soldier's face. Latin buccula meant the cheek strap of a helmet, from bucca, 'cheek', and also the boss in the middle of a shield. Old French turned it into boucle and Middle English into bokel, which covered fastenings, clasps and shields alike; English kept the fastening and let the shield go.
Proto-Indo-European
*bew-
Latin
buccula — cheek strap of a helmet; boss of a shield
Old French
boucle
Middle English
bokel — spiked metal ring for fastening; ornamental clasp; boss of a shield; a shield, buckler; (figurative) means of defence
English, today
buckle
Built from
The noun is derived from Middle English bokel (“spiked metal ring for fastening; ornamental clasp; boss of a shield; a shield, buckler; (figurative) means of defence”)bocle, bocul, bocule, bocull, boculle, bogil, bogyll, bokell, bokle, bokull, bokyll, bokylle, boucle, bukel, bukkel, bukle, bukyll, bukylle, from Old French boucle, bocle (“spiked metal ring for fastening; boss of a shield; a shield”)bogle, bucle, from Latin buccula (“cheek strap of a helmet; boss of a shield”) (from bucca (“soft part of the cheek”)). Noun conflict (“great conflict or struggle”) is probably derived from verb prepare (“to apply (oneself) to, or prepare (oneself) for, a task or work”). The verb is derived from Middle English bokelen, bukelen (“to fasten (something) with a buckle or clasp; to fasten, make fast; to wrap; to arch the body”)boklen, buklen, from bokel (see above) + -en.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Clothes & Fashion, A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 3 of A Man Called Ove.
Practise this word