See Also: buck(8)(dictionary)
buck(14)(dictionary)
Buck(casino)
Buck(money)
Buck(finance)
buck(13)(dictionary)
buck(1)(dictionary)
buck(10)(dictionary)
buck(11)(dictionary)
buck(9)(dictionary)

buck(3) (iou)



buck noun1 & adjective. OE.
[Partly Old English buc male deer = Middle Dutch boc (Dutch bok), Old High German boc (German Bock), Old Norse bukkr, bokkr, partly Old English bucca he-goat = Old Norse bokki my good fellow, old buck, both from Germanic.]
A. noun.
I. The male of various animals. (The corresponding female animal is usu. called doe.)
A male goat (cf. GOAT 1). OE-M16.
The male of British deer, spec. the fallow deer and roe-deer. OE.
The male of certain other kinds of deer, as the reindeer; the male of certain other horned mammals, as the antelope; US a ram. L17.
A male hare, rabbit, ferret, or rat. M18.
An adult male kangaroo. Austral. M19.
II. transf.
A man. rare exc. as below. ME.
A dashing fellow; a dandy. arch. E18.
A male American Indian; a black male; a male Australian Aborigine. Usu. derog. Chiefly US & Austral. E19.
Comb.: buck-brush N. Amer. brush on which deer browse; any of various shrubs of this sort; buck-bush buck-brush; also, any of various Australian shrubs; buck fever US nervousness when called on to take action; buckhorn (a) (the material of) a male deer's horn; (b) dial. dried whiting or other fish; buck-hound a small variety of staghound; buck-jump noun, verb intrans. = BUCK noun4 2, BUCK verb2 2a; buck-jumper (a) a horse that bucks; (b) one who rides bucking horses in rodeos etc.; buck naked N. Amer. colloq. [perh. alt. of butt naked] completely naked; buck rarebit Welsh rarebit with poached egg; buck's horn any of various plants resembling a male deer's horn, esp. a plantain, Plantago coronopus (usu. more fully buck's horn plantain); buckshot coarse lead shot used in shotgun shells; buckskin (a) (leather of) the skin of a male deer or similar skin; in pl., breeches made of this; (b) a strong smooth cotton, woollen, or twilled cloth; buckstall Hist. a large net for catching deer; buck-tooth a tooth that projects.
b. attrib. or as adjective.
Of an animal or derog. a black man etc.: male. E17.
Of the lowest grade of a specific military rank. US slang. E20.
buckish adjective LME.
buckism noun foppish behaviour M18-E19.