Thenoun is derived fromMiddle Englishbokel(“spiked metal ring for fastening; ornamental clasp; boss of a shield; a shield, buckler; (figurative) means of defence”)[and other forms],[1] fromOld Frenchboucle,bocle(“spiked metal ring for fastening; boss of a shield; a shield”)[and other forms], fromLatinbuccula(“cheek strap of a helmet; boss of a shield”)[2] (frombucca(“soft part of the cheek”)).
Nounsense 2 (“great conflict or struggle”) is probably derived from verbsense 1.2.1 (“to apply (oneself) to, or prepare (oneself) for, a task or work”).[2]
In verbsense 1.2.1, the sense “to apply (oneself) to, or prepare (oneself) for, a task or work” was derived from the now obsolete sense “to equip (oneself) for a battle, etc.”, and originally alluded to armour being buckled on to the body.[5]
SvveetHellen I muſt vvoe you, / To helpe vn-arme ourHector: his ſtubbornebucles / VVith this your vvhite enchaunting fingers touch; / Shall more obey then to the edge of ſteele, / Or force of Greekiſh ſinevves:[…]
My uncle furthermore remarked that it wore high heeled shoes, after an ancient fashion, with paste or diamondbuckles, that sparkled as though they were alive.
(by extension) Some otherform of claspused to fasten twothings together.
He must be forging thebuckle-screw, sir, now.[…] Carpenter, when he's through with thatbuckle, tell him to forge a pair of steel shoulder-blades; there's a pedlar aboard with a crushing pack.
Iuſt [i.e., the Lord Chief Justice,William Gascoigne]. VVel, the truth is ſir Iohn, you liue in great infamy. /Falſt[aff]. He thatbuckles himſelfe in my belt cannot liue in leſſe.
It is a ſigne that a man hath to doe vvith a ſtrong enemie vvhen hebuckleth on all his harneſſe, and calleth together all his ſtrength for oppoſition.
1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The King and Queen Make a Progress to the Frontiers. The Author Attends Them. The Manner in which He Leaves the Country Very Particularly Related. He Returns toEngland.”, inTravels into Several Remote Nations of the World.[…][Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London:[…]Benj[amin] Motte,[…],→OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag),page292:
[T]here vvere tvvo ſtrong Staples fixed upon that ſide of my Box vvhich had no VVindovv, and into vvhich the Servant vvho uſed to carry me on horſeback vvoud put a leathern Belt, andbuckle it about his VVaſte.
For this cauſe whẽ the faithfull find themſelues to haue ouercomeSatan in one incounter by the grace ofChriſt, let them take good heede that they imagin not their battel to be at an end: but rather let thembuckle themſelues to a new charge, and valiantly aduance themſelues to handſtrokes againe.
He left his lofty ſteede to aide him neare, / Andbuckling ſoone him ſelfe, gan fiercely fly / Vppon that Carle, to ſaue his friend from ieopardy.
1606, Charles Steuens [i.e.,Charles Estienne], John Liebault [i.e.,Jean Liébault], “Of Birds of the Pray in Particular”, in Richard Surflet, transl.,Maison Rustique, or The Countrey Farme:[…], London:[…] Arnold Hatfield for Iohn Norton and Iohn Bill,→OCLC, book VII (The Warren),page879:
To be breef, haukes ſeeme not to differ, ſaue that all of them doe not flie at all kinde of birds and foules alike, for in deede euery one of thembuckleth himſelfe vnto the bird, to the flying vvhereof he is giuen and addicted, and not to others.
1655,Thomas Fuller, “Section VI. To the Masters, Wardens, and All the Members of the Honourable Company of Mercers, of London.”, inThe Church-history of Britain;[…], London:[…] Iohn Williams[…],→OCLC,(please specify |book=I to XI), subsections 15–20 (The Rhemish Translation Comes Forth.[...]),page69:
Hereupon[Thomas] Cartwrightbuckled himself to the employment, and was very forward in the pursuance thereof.
a.1678 (date written),Isaac Barrow, “Sermon LII. Of Industry in Our General Calling, as Christians.”, inThe Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow.[…], volume III, London:A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy,[…], published1831,→OCLC,page321:
It chargeth on us contentedly and patiently to undergo whatever God doth impose of burden or sufferance, so that 'patience have its perfect work;' and it is a crabbed work to bend our stiff inclinations, to quell our refractory passions, to make our sturdy humourbuckle thereto.
[T]ake my advice, and marry in the firſt place vvhere vve can find a curate; or make uſe of our friend the licentiate, vvho vvillbuckle you handſomely.
They were hailed[…] as a young strapping Irishman, conveying an ancient maiden to Dr Rigmarole's at Redriffe, whobuckles beggars for a tester and a dram of Geneva.
To apply oneself to or prepare for a task or work.
1563,John Strype, quotingEdwin Sandys, “The Bishop of Worcester’s Vindication of Himself against Sir John Bourne, before the Privy Council. Bourne’s Imprisonment and Submission.[An Answer to a Declaration of Sir John Bourne, Kt. which He Hath Made to My Answer Uttered before Your Honours. The Said Declaration being Indeed a New and Untrue Accusation.]”, inAnnals of the Reformation and Establishment of Religion, and Other Various Occurrences in the Church of England;[…], volume I, London:[…] John Wyat,[…], published1709,→OCLC,page360:
SirJohn diſdainfully looking at him, ſaluted him vvith theſe VVords,Farevvel Sir Knave, (for it is to be noted that it is common vvith him to term many honeſt Men ſo). My Brother anſvvered,Sir, You are no leſs. VVhereat one of SirJohn’s Menbuckled to fight vvith him. But SirJohn ſtayed his Man.
1623 June 21 (Gregorian calendar), Robert Saunderson [i.e.,Robert Sanderson], “[Ad Magistratum.] The First Sermon. At a Publicke Sessions at Grantham Linc[olnshire] 11. June. 1623.”, inTwelve Sermons,[…],[new] edition, London:[…]Aug[ustine] Math[ews], for Robert Dawlman, and are to be sold byRobert Allet,[…], published1632,→OCLC,§. 6,page132:
The firſt thing vve doe in the morning before vve either eate or drink, orbuckle about any vvorldly buſineſſe, is toput ourclothes about vs: vve ſay, vve are notready, till vve haue done that.
[For a man] to be deceiued, vvith too long Shadovves,[…] And ſo to ſhoot off before the time; Or to teach dangers to come on, by ouer earlyBuckling tovvards them, is another Extreme.
[T]he Epicurebuckles to ſtudy, vvhen ſhame, or the deſire to recommend himſelf to his Miſtreſs, ſhall make him uneaſie in the vvant of any ſort of knovvledge.
1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym;John Arbuthnot], “The Rest of Nic’s Fetches to Keep John out of Ecclesdoun-Castle”, inLewis Baboon Turned Honest, and John Bull Politician. Being the Fourth Part of Law is a Bottomless-Pit.[…], London:[…]John Morphew,[…],→OCLC,page32:
At laſtEſquire Southbuckl'd to, to aſſiſt his FriendNic.
Then the sergeant let us out, and introducing us to a pile of wood and saws and axes, informed us that when this had been cut up into firewood we should get our breakfast. He sat at the door of his kitchen watching, and seeing there was nothing else for it webuckled to and soon had the job done; when we were admitted to the kitchen and given a really good meal.
I confess that the recollection of what this bell could do when itbuckled down to it gave me pause as I stood that night at 12.30 p.m. prompt beside the outhouse where it was located.
So theybuckled together, and the Heithen were diſcomfited, and fled ouer the playne felde: but the hynmoſt of them were ſlayne.
1549 March 25 (Gregorian calendar),Hugh Latimer, “Sermon VI. Being the Second Sermon Preached before KingEdward VI. March the Fifteenth.”, inThe Sermons of the Right Reverend Father in God, Master Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester.[…], volume I, London:[…] J. Scott,[…], published1758,→OCLC,page90:
VVell, it chanced that the Lord Protector [Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester] and he [Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester] fell out, and the Biſhop vvould bear nothing at all vvith him, but played me the Satrapa; ſo the Regent of France vvas fain to be ſent for from beyond the ſeas, to ſet them at one, and go betvveen them: For the Biſhop vvas as able and ready tobuckle vvith the Lord Protector as he vvas vvith him.
[B]eing armed vvith patience vvhen thoubuckleſt vvith affliction or pouertie, hunger, or any croſſe ſoeuer thou canſt ſay, it is nothing to ouercome them.
1749 (date written), David Hume, “Discourse X. Of the Populousness of Antient Nations.”, inPolitical Discourses, Edinburgh:[…] R. Fleming, forA[lexander] Kincaid andA[lexander] Donaldson, published1752,→OCLC,page189:
And as the vvhole armies vvere thus engag'd, and each man cloſelybuckl'd to his antagoniſt, the battles vvere commonly very bloody, and great ſlaughter made on both ſides, but eſpecially on the vanquiſh'd.
Origin uncertain. Probably fromMiddle Englishbokelen(“to arch the body”), fromMiddle Frenchboucler(“to bulge”, literally“to take the shape of a shield boss”), from the same ultimate origin as Etymology 1 above. In some senses, possibly frombuck(“to bend, yield, buckle”) +-le(frequentative suffix).
Throw all their ſcandalous malice upon me? / 'Cauſe I am poor, deform'd and ignorant, / And like a Bowbuckl'd and bent together, / By ſome more ſtrong in miſchiefs then my ſelf?
And as the vvretch vvhoſe feuer-vveakned ioynts, / Like ſtrengthleſſe hingesbuckle vnder life, /[…] euen ſo my limbes, / VVeakened vvith griefe, being novv enragde vvith griefe, / Are thrice themſelues:[…]
1680,Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] XIII. Applied to the Art of Turning.”, inMechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works,[…], volume I, London:[…] Joseph Moxon, published1678,→OCLC, § XVI (Of Turning Long and Slender Work of Ivory),page222:
And thus by placingCollers vvhere ever they find the VVorkbuckle, they (as aforeſaid) vvithSharp Tools, tender touches, ſomevvhat a looſe and fineString, 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.
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 islandsbuckled, preventing residents from even inspecting the damage to their property.
Appeared in print on November 1, 2012, on page A1.
Mr. Gray did tell me to-night, for certain, that the Dutch, as high as they seem, do begin tobuckle; 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.
The greatest beau at our next county sessions was dressed in a most monstrous flaxen periwig, that was made in kingWilliam's reign. The wearer of it goes, it seems, in his own hair when he is at home, and lets his wig lie inbuckle for a whole half year, that he may put it on upon occasion to meet the judges in it.
For vvhat's a VVoman, vvhen her Virtue's gone? / A Coat vvithout its Lace; VVig out ofBuckle; / A Stocking vvith a Hole in't.
1731,Alexander Pope, “[Ethic Epistles, the Second Book. To Several Persons.] Epistle III. ToAllen Lord Bathurst.”, inThe Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume II, London:[…] J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver[…], published1735,→OCLC,page22:
That live-long VVig vvhichGorgon's ſelf might ovvn, / Eternalbuckle takes in Parian ſtone.
1733,George Cheyne, “Of the Signs and Symptoms of a Too Relaxed, Loose and Tender State of Nerves”, inThe English Malady: Or, A Treatise of Nervous Diseases of All Kinds,[…], London:[…]G[eorge] Strahan[…]; Bath, Somerset: J. Leake,→OCLC, part I (Of the Nature and Cause of Nervous Distempers), § II,page100:
Those that have by Nature ſoft, thin, and ſhort Hair, vvhich, vvith great Difficulty, receives or retains aBuckle, and thoſe vvho readily run into Baldneſs or ſhedding of the Hair tovvards the Spring, are certainly of a looſe, flabby, and relaxed State of Nerves:[…]
He turned round and beheld the old French servant, with his ear locks in tightbuckles on each side of a long, lanthorn face, on which habit had deeply wrinkled an everlasting smile.
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, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2023;“buckle,n.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
buckle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
