Etymology

Noun

1. A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare, and sometimes the male of other animals such as the ferret and shad.
2. An uncastrated sheep, a ram.
3. A young buck; an adventurous, impetuous, dashing, or high-spirited young man.
4. A fop or dandy.
5. A black or Native American man.
6. A dollar (one hundred cents).

   Can I borrow five bucks.

7. One hundred.

   The police caught me driving a buck-forty on the freeway.

   That skinny guy? C'mon, he can't weigh more than a buck and a quarter.

8. 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 the pot to remind the winner of some privilege or obligation when his or her turn to deal next comes.
9. Blame; responsibility; scapegoating; finger-pointing.

   passing the buck

   The buck stops here. — Harry S. Truman

10. (always plural, bucks) Casual oxford shoes made of buckskin, often white or a neutral color.
11. The body of a post mill, particularly in East Anglia.

Synonyms

See also

• doe, doeling, nanny, nanny-goat, she-goat
• gill, jill
• ewe

Verb

1. (of a horse, or similar saddle or pack animal) To leap upward arching its back, coming down with head low and forelegs stiff, often in an attempt to dislodge or throw a rider or pack; sometimes also used to describe a kicking motion in which the animal rises sharply up on its front legs.
   • 1848, Jackey Jackey (an Aborigine), quoted in William Carron, Narrative of an Expedition Undertaken Under the Direction of the Late Mr. Assistant Surveyor E. B. Kennedy at Project Gutenberg Australia

     At the same time we got speared, the horses got speared too, and jumped and bucked all about.

2. (of a horse, or similar saddle or pack animal) to successfully throw or attempt to throw (a rider or pack) by bucking.
3. (by extension) To resist obstinately; oppose or object strongly.

   The vice president bucked at the board's latest solution.

4. (by extension) To move or operate in a sharp, jerking, or uneven manner.

   The motor bucked and sputtered before dying completely.

5. (by extension) To overcome or shed (e.g., an impediment or expectation), in pursuit of a goal; to force a way through despite (an obstacle).

   The plane bucked a strong headwind.

   Our managers have to learn to buck the trend and do the right thing for their employees.