a. Without pluck; timid; faint-hearted. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bocle buckle, boss of a shield, OF. bocle, F. boucle, boss of a shield, ring, fr. L. buccula a little cheek or mouth, dim. of bucca cheek; this boss or knob resembling a cheek. ] 1. A device, usually of metal, consisting of a frame with one more movable tongues or catches, used for fastening things together, as parts of dress or harness, by means of a strap passing through the frame and pierced by the tongue. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A distortion bulge, bend, or kink, as in a saw blade or a plate of sheet metal. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A curl of hair, esp. a kind of crisp curl formerly worn; also, the state of being curled. [ 1913 Webster ]

Earlocks in tight buckles on each side of a lantern face. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lets his wig lie in buckle for a whole half year. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A contorted expression, as of the face. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

'Gainst nature armed by gravity,
His features too in buckle see. Churchill. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Buckled p. pr. & vb. n. Buckling. ] [ OE. boclen, F. boucler. See Buckle, n. ] 1. To fasten or confine with a buckle or buckles; as, to buckle a harness. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To bend; to cause to kink, or to become distorted. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To prepare for action; to apply with vigor and earnestness; -- formerly, generally used reflexively, but by mid 20th century, usually used with down; -- as, the programmers buckled down and worked late hours to finish the project in time for the promised delivery date. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Cartwright buckled himself to the employment. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To join in marriage. [ Scot. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To bend permanently; to become distorted; to bow; to curl; to kink. [ 1913 Webster ]

Buckled with the heat of the fire like parchment. Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To bend out of a true vertical plane, as a wall. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To yield; to give way; to cease opposing. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The Dutch, as high as they seem, do begin to buckle. Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To enter upon some labor or contest; to join in close fight; to struggle; to contend. [ 1913 Webster ]

The bishop was as able and ready to buckle with the Lord Protector as he was with him. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

In single combat thou shalt buckle with me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To buckle to, to bend to; to engage with zeal. [ 1913 Webster ]

To make our sturdy humor buckle thereto. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

Before buckling to my winter's work. J. D. Forbes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bocler, OF. bocler, F. bouclier, a shield with a boss, from OF. bocle, boucle, boss. See Buckle, n. ] 1. A kind of shield, of various shapes and sizes, worn on one of the arms (usually the left) for protecting the front of the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the sword and buckler play of the Middle Ages in England, the buckler was a small shield, used, not to cover the body, but to stop or parry blows. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) One of the large, bony, external plates found on many ganoid fishes. (b) The anterior segment of the shell of trilobites. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) A block of wood or plate of iron made to fit a hawse hole, or the circular opening in a half-port, to prevent water from entering when the vessel pitches. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blind buckler (Naut.), a solid buckler. --
Buckler mustard (Bot.), a genus of plants (Biscutella) with small bright yellow flowers. The seed vessel on bursting resembles two bucklers or shields. --
Buckler thorn, a plant with seed vessels shaped like a buckler. See Christ's thorn. --
Riding buckler (Naut.), a buckler with a hole for the passage of a cable. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To shield; to defend. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right,
Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having a head like a buckler. [ 1913 Webster ]