Buc"kle (bŭk"k'l), v. i. 1. To
bend permanently; to become distorted; to bow; to curl; to kink.
Buckled with the heat
of the fire
like parchment.
Pepys.
2. To bend out of a true vertical plane, as a wall.
3. To yield; to give way; to cease opposing. [Obs.]
The Dutch, as
high as they seem, do
begin to buckle.
Pepys.
4. To enter upon some labor or
contest; to join in close
fight; to struggle; to contend.
The bishop was as able and ready to
buckle with the Lord Protector as he was with him.
Latimer.
In single combat thou shalt buckle with me.
Shak.
To buckle to, to bend to; to engage with zeal.
To make our sturdy humor buckle thereto.
Barrow.
Before buckling to my winter's work.
J. D.
Forbes.
Buc"kle (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buckled (&?;);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Buckling.]
[OE. boclen, F. boucler. See Buckle, n.]
1. To fasten or confine with a buckle or
buckles; as, to buckle a harness.
2. To bend; to cause to kink, or to become distorted.
3.
To prepare for action; to apply with
vigor and earnestness; -- generally used reflexively.
Cartwright buckled himself to the employment.
Fuller.
4.
To join in marriage. [Scot.] Sir W.
Scott.
Buc"kle (&?;), n. [OE.
bocle buckle, boss of a shield, OF. bocle, F. boucle, boss of a shield, ring, fr. L. buccula a little cheek or mouth, dim.
of bucca cheek; this boss or
knob resembling a cheek.]
1. A
device, usually of metal, consisting of a frame with
one more movable tongues or catches, used
for fastening things together, as parts of dress or harness, by means of a strap passing through the frame and
pierced by the tongue.
2. A distortion bulge, bend, or kink,
as in a saw blade or
a plate of sheet metal. Knight.
3. A curl of hair, esp. a kind of crisp
curl formerly worn; also, the state of
being curled.
Earlocks in tight
buckles on each side of a lantern face.
W. Irving.
Lets his wig lie in buckle for a whole half year.
Addison.
4. A contorted expression, as of the face. [R.]
'Gainst nature armed by gravity,
His features too in buckle see.
Churchill.
Hear it pronounced