What does "buck" mean?
A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare, and sometimes the male of other animals such as the hamster, ferret, salmonid, shad and kangaroo.
Buck
/bʌk/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare, and sometimes the male of other animals such as the hamster, ferret, salmonid, shad and kangaroo.
- Grammar: buck is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: dollar, and jump, antagonize, antelope.
- Useful contrasts: accept, calm, cent.
- Usage evidence: They're some developers who aim to make a fast buck!
How to use "buck"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "buck" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "buck" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "buck" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "buck" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "buck" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "dollar" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "buck", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare, and sometimes the male of other animals such as the hamster, ferret, salmonid, shad and kangaroo.
- 2 The beech tree. Scotland
"There is in it also woodes of buck, and deir in them."
- 3 Lye or suds in which cloth is soaked in the operation of bleaching, or in which clothes are washed. archaic
"1673, Robert Almond, The English Horseman and Complete Farrier, London: Simon Miller, Chapter 25 “Maunginess in the Main,” p. 236, […] when you find the scurf to fall off, wash the Neck and other parts with Buck Lye made blood warm."
- 4 The body of a cart or waggon, especially the front part. UK, archaic, dialectal
- 5 mature male of various mammals (especially deer or antelope) wordnet
Show 30 more definitions
- 6 An uncastrated sheep, a ram. US
- 7 The cloth or clothes soaked or washed. archaic
"Buck! I would I could wash myself of the buck!"
- 8 Belly, breast, chest. UK, archaic, dialectal
- 9 a framework for holding wood that is being sawed wordnet
- 10 An antelope of either sex; compare with Afrikaans bok. Africa
"There are all kinds of game in the valley, and you are unlucky if you do not see a giraffe or an ostrich, or at least a herd of buck."
- 11 Size. UK, archaic, dialectal
- 12 a gymnastic horse without pommels and with one end elongated; used lengthwise for vaulting wordnet
- 13 A young buck; an adventurous, impetuous, dashing, or high-spirited young man.
"Swankey of the Body Guard himself, that dangerous youth, and the greatest buck of all the Indian army now on leave, was one day discovered by Major Dobbin tête-à-tête with Amelia, and describing the sport of pig-sticking to her with great humour and eloquence […]"
- 14 a piece of paper money worth one dollar wordnet
- 15 A fop or dandy. British, obsolete
"This pusillanimous creature thinks himself, and would be thought, a buck."
- 16 A black or Native American man. US, dated, derogatory
"As we crossed Blackwell's Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl."
- 17 Lowest rank; a private. US, slang
- 18 A unit of a particular currency; A dollar (one hundred cents). Australia, Canada, New-Zealand, US, informal
"Can I borrow five bucks?"
- 19 A unit of a particular currency; A rand (currency unit). South-Africa, informal
- 20 A unit of a particular currency; A sixpence. UK, obsolete, slang
"three and a buck"
- 21 A unit of a particular currency; A euro. informal, rare
"Those fools are all probably sitting outside the pork store, recalling the incident about losing a thousand bucks with the fake Gajas, and chewing on their soggy stogies."
- 22 A unit of a particular currency; Money. Australia, South-Africa, US, broadly, informal
"Corporations will do anything to make a buck."
- 23 A unit of a particular currency; One million dollars.
- 24 One hundred. US, slang
"The police caught me driving a buck forty [140 miles per hour] on the freeway."
- 25 Clipping of buckshot. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
"He loaded the shotgun with two rounds of double-ought buck."
- 26 An implement the body of which is likened to a male sheep’s body due maintaining a stiff-legged position as if by stubbornness.; The body of a post mill, particularly in East Anglia. See Wikipedia:Windmill machinery. UK, dialectal
- 27 An implement the body of which is likened to a male sheep’s body due maintaining a stiff-legged position as if by stubbornness.; A frame on which firewood is sawed; a sawhorse; a sawbuck.
- 28 An implement the body of which is likened to a male sheep’s body due maintaining a stiff-legged position as if by stubbornness.; A leather-covered frame used for gymnastic vaulting.
- 29 An implement the body of which is likened to a male sheep’s body due maintaining a stiff-legged position as if by stubbornness.; A wood or metal frame used by automotive customizers and restorers to assist in the shaping of sheet metal bodywork.
"Plans in hand, Frank first paid his friend Raniero a visit, and the artisan quickly went to work on a fortified wood buck that would serve as a form for the Griffith 600 Series, as the car was formally known and marketed by Griffith Motors."
- 30 An implement the body of which is likened to a male sheep’s body due maintaining a stiff-legged position as if by stubbornness.; An object of various types, placed on a table to indicate turn or status; such as a brass object, placed in rotation on a US Navy wardroom dining table to indicate which officer is to be served first, or an item passed around a poker table indicating the dealer or placed in the pot to remind the winner of some privilege or obligation when his or her turn to deal next comes. dated
- 31 An implement the body of which is likened to a male sheep’s body due maintaining a stiff-legged position as if by stubbornness.; An object of various types, placed on a table to indicate turn or status; such as a brass object, placed in rotation on a US Navy wardroom dining table to indicate which officer is to be served first, or an item passed around a poker table indicating the dealer or placed in the pot to remind the winner of some privilege or obligation when his or her turn to deal next comes.; Blame; responsibility; scapegoating; finger-pointing. broadly, dated
"pass the buck"
- 32 Synonym of buck dance. dated
- 33 Synonym of mule (“type of cocktail with ginger ale etc.”).
- 34 A kind of large marble in children's games. dated, slang
- 35 An unlicensed cabman. UK, obsolete, slang
Verb
- 1 To copulate, as bucks and does. intransitive
- 2 To bend; buckle. intransitive
- 3 To soak, steep or boil in lye or suds, as part of the bleaching process. archaic
- 4 To swell out. UK, archaic, dialectal, intransitive
- 5 To boast or brag. archaic, intransitive, slang
"And then […] he bucks with a quiet stubborn determination that would fill an American editor, or an Under Secretary of State with despair. He belongs to the 12-foot-tiger school, so perhaps he can't help it."
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 jump vertically, with legs stiff and back arched wordnet
- 7 To leap upward arching its back, coming down with head low and forelegs stiff, forcefully kicking its hind legs upward, often in an attempt to dislodge or throw a rider or pack. intransitive
"1849, Jackey Jackey, The Statement of the Aboriginal Native Jackey Jackey, who Accompanied Mr. Kennedy, William Carron, Narrative of an Expedition Undertaken Under the Direction of the Late Mr. Assistant Surveyor E. B. Kennedy, 2004 Gutenberg Australia eBook #0201121, At the same time we got speared, the horses got speared too, and jumped and bucked all about, and got into the swamp."
- 8 To wash (clothes) in lye or suds, or, in later usage, by beating them on stones in running water archaic
- 9 move quickly and violently wordnet
- 10 To throw (a rider or pack) by bucking. transitive
"The brute that he was riding had nearly bucked him out of the saddle."
- 11 To break up or pulverize, as ores. archaic
"This [ore mixture] was bucked or cobbed down to a 'peasy' size (i.e. the size of a pea) or less, using a flat-bottomed bucking hammer, and then riddled into coarse peasy and finer (sand-sized) 'smitham' grades."
- 12 resist wordnet
- 13 To resist obstinately; oppose or object strongly. broadly, intransitive
"The vice president bucked at the board’s latest solution."
- 14 to strive with determination wordnet
- 15 To move or operate in a sharp, jerking, or uneven manner. broadly, intransitive
"The motor bucked and sputtered before dying completely."
- 16 To overcome or shed (e.g., an impediment or expectation), in pursuit of a goal; to force a way through despite (an obstacle); to resist or proceed against. broadly, transitive
"The plane bucked a strong headwind."
- 17 To subject to a mode of punishment which consists of tying the wrists together, passing the arms over the bent knees, and putting a stick across the arms and in the angle formed by the knees. transitive
- 18 To strive or aspire e.g. to a promotion. US, slang
- 19 To press a heavy, shaped bucking bar against the bucktail of a rivet, while the opposite end (the rivet factory head) is hammered by a rivet gun, to upset the bucktail into an appropriate shape, most commonly a pancake-shape.
- 20 To saw a felled tree into shorter lengths, as for firewood.
- 21 To output a voltage that is lower than the input voltage.
- 22 To fuck. Ireland, euphemistic, humorous
"Well he yoked the ass up to the cart. And then the holy ructions it did start. Well he bucked it in the air and he bucked it all around. Till he smashed the buckin' cart upon the ground."
- 23 To meet, to encounter, to come across. Multicultural-London-English
"If I buck a paigon, I will disappoint his mum"
Proper Noun
- 1 An English surname transferred from the nickname.
"The vote was 213-209 along party lines. Republican members of the House Ethics Committee – Michael Guest of Mississippi, Dave Joyce of Ohio, Andrew Garbarino of New York, John Rutherford of Florida and Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota – voted present. GOP Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado also voted present but he is not on the Ethics Committee."
- 2 A male given name from Old English.
- 3 A German surname, a variant of Buch.
- 4 An unincorporated community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States.
- 5 A township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A township in Hardin County, Ohio, United States.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"They're some developers who aim to make a fast buck!"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "buck"?
Common synonyms include: dollar, and jump, antagonize, antelope, assault, battle.
How do you use "buck" in a sentence?
They're some developers who aim to make a fast buck!
How do you pronounce "buck"?
Pronounced /bʌk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English bukke, bucke, buc, from Old English buc, bucc, bucca (“he-goat, stag”), from Proto-West Germanic *bukk, *bukkō, from Proto-Germanic *bukkaz, *bukkô (“buck”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuǵ- (“ram”). Doublet of puck (“billy goat”). Currency-related senses hail from American English, a clipping of buckskin as a unit of trade among Indians and Europeans in frontier days (attested from 1748). The idea of rigidly standing implements is instilled by Dutch bok (“sawhorse”) as in zaagbok (“sawbuck”). The sense of an object indicating someone’s turn then occurred in American English, possibly originating from the game poker, where a knife (typically with a hilt made from a stag horn) was used as a place-marker to signify whose turn it was to deal. The place-marker was commonly referred to as a buck, which reinforced the term “pass the buck” used in poker, and eventually a silver dollar was used in place of a knife, which also led to a dollar being referred to as a buck.
Etymology 2
From dialectal buck ("to give in, yield"; also bug (“to bend”)), from Middle Low German bucken (“to bend”) or Middle Dutch bucken, bocken (“to bend”), intensive forms of Old Saxon būgan and Old Dutch *būgan (“to bend, bow”), both from Proto-West Germanic *beugan, from Proto-Germanic *būganą (“to bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”). Influenced in some senses by buck “male goat” (see above). Sense “to meet, to encounter” is a semantic loan from Jamaican Creole buck. Compare bow and elbow.
Etymology 3
See beech.
Etymology 4
From Middle English bouken (“steep in lye”), ultimately related to the root of beech. Cognate with Middle High German büchen, Swedish byka, Danish byge and Low German būken.
Etymology 5
From Middle English bouk (“belly, trunk, body, hull of a ship, fishtrap, container”), from Old English būc (“belly, bottle, jug, pitcher”), from Proto-West Germanic *būk, from Proto-Germanic *būkaz. Doublet of bucket.
Etymology 6
From Hindi बकना (baknā, “babble, talk nonsense”).
Etymology 7
* For both the English surname and given name, originally a nickname for someone who resembled a buck. * Also as an English topographic surname, from Middle English buk (modern beech). * As a German and Dutch surname, shortened from Burkhard, compare Burkhart. * As a north German and Danish surname, from Middle Low German bûk (“belly”), from Old Saxon būk, from Proto-West Germanic *būk, from Proto-Germanic *būkaz. Compare Bauch. * Also as a German and Dutch surname, variant of Bock. * Also as a German surname, variant of Puck. * As a Germanized Lower Sorbian surname, from buk (“beech”).