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Definition of buckle verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

buckle

verb
 
/ˈbʌkl/
 
/ˈbʌkl/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they buckle
 
/ˈbʌkl/
 
/ˈbʌkl/
he / she / it buckles
 
/ˈbʌklz/
 
/ˈbʌklz/
past simple buckled
 
/ˈbʌkld/
 
/ˈbʌkld/
past participle buckled
 
/ˈbʌkld/
 
/ˈbʌkld/
-ing form buckling
 
/ˈbʌklɪŋ/
 
/ˈbʌklɪŋ/
Phrasal Verbs
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  1. [transitive, intransitive] to fasten something or be fastened with a buckle
    • buckle something She buckled her belt.
    • buckle something on/up He buckled on his sword.
    • These shoes buckle at the side.
  2. [intransitive, transitive] to become bent, damaged or broken under a weight or force; to bend, damage or break something in this way
    • buckle (under something) The steel frames began to buckle under the strain.
    • (figurative) A weaker man would have buckled under the pressure.
    • buckle something The crash buckled the front of my car.
  3. [intransitive] when your knees or legs buckle or when you buckle at the knees, your knees become weak and you start to fall
  4. Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French bocle, from Latin buccula ‘cheek strap of a helmet’, from bucca ‘cheek’. Senses 2 and 3 are from French boucler ‘to bulge’.
See buckle in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
trait
noun
 
 
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