buckle

A belt buckle (etymology 1, noun sense 1).

A buckle (etymology 1, noun sense 1.2) used in Canadian heraldry as the brisure of an eighth daughter.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌkl̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌk(ə)l/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Homophone: buccal
• Rhymes: -ʌkəl
• Hyphenation: buck‧le

The noun is derived from Middle English bokel (“spiked metal ring for fastening; ornamental clasp; boss of a shield; a shield, buckler; (figurative) means of defence”) ,^[1] from Old French boucle, bocle (“spiked metal ring for fastening; boss of a shield; a shield”) , from Latin buccula (“cheek strap of a helmet; boss of a shield”)^[2] (from bucca (“soft part of the cheek”); further etymology uncertain, possibly of Celtic origin, or from Proto-Indo-European *bew-, *bʰew- (“to blow; to inflate; to swell”)) + -ula (diminutive suffix).

Noun sense 2 (“great conflict or struggle”) is probably derived from verb sense 1.2.1 (“to apply (oneself) to, or prepare (oneself) for, a task or work”).^[2]

The verb is derived from Middle English bokelen, bukelen (“to fasten (something) with a buckle or clasp; to fasten, make fast; to wrap; to arch the body”) , from bokel (noun)^[3] (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).^[4]

In verb sense 1.2.1, the sense “to apply (oneself) to, or prepare (oneself) for, a task or work” was derived from the now obsolete sense “to equip (oneself) for a battle, etc.”, and originally alluded to armour being buckled on to the body.^[5]

buckle (plural buckles)

2. A metal clasp with a hinged tongue or a spike through which a belt or strap is passed and penetrated by the tongue or spike, in order to fasten the ends of the belt together or to secure the strap to something else.
   • c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid.  (First Quarto), London: G Eld for R Bonian and H Walley, , published 1609, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], signature F, verso:

     Svveet Hellen I muſt vvoe you, / To helpe vn-arme our Hector: his ſtubborne bucles / VVith this your vvhite enchaunting fingers touch; / Shall more obey then to the edge of ſteele, / Or force of Greekiſh ſinevves: […]

   • 1712 March 15 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “TUESDAY, March 4, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 317; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, , volume IV, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, pages 86–87:

     Tongue of my shoe-buckle broke. […] Bought a new head to my cane, and a tongue to my buckle. Drank a glass of purl to recover appetite.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Adventure of My Uncle”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 1 (Strange Stories. ), Philadelphia, Pa.: H C Carey & I Lea, , →OCLC, page 31:

     My uncle furthermore remarked that it wore high heeled shoes, after an ancient fashion, with paste or diamond buckles, that sparkled as though they were alive.

   1. (by extension) Some other form of clasp used to fasten two things together.
      • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Ahab and the Carpenter”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, pages 522–523:

        He must be forging the buckle-screw, sir, now. […] Carpenter, when he's through with that buckle, tell him to forge a pair of steel shoulder-blades; there's a pedlar aboard with a crushing pack.

   3. (Canada, heraldry) An image of a clasp (sense 1) used as the brisure of an eighth daughter.
4. A great conflict or struggle.

buckle (third-person singular simple present buckles, present participle buckling, simple past and past participle buckled)

1. (transitive)
   1. To fasten (something) using a buckle (noun sense 1); hence (obsolete), to fasten (something) in any way.

      Antonym: unbuckle

      • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, , quarto edition, London: V S for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], signature B3, recto:

        Iuſt [i.e., the Lord Chief Justice, William Gascoigne]. VVel, the truth is ſir Iohn, you liue in great infamy. / Falſt[aff]. He that buckles himſelfe in my belt cannot liue in leſſe.

      • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 195, column 2:

        [H]ovv briefe the Life of man / runs his erring pilgrimage, / That the ſtretching of a ſpan, / buckles in his ſumme of age.

        Used figuratively in the sense of constraining.

      • 1632, Edward Reynoldes [i.e., Edward Reynolds], “Verse 2”, in An Explication of the Hundreth and Tenth Psalme: , London: Felix Kyngston for Robert Bostocke, , →OCLC, page 153:

        It is a ſigne that a man hath to doe vvith a ſtrong enemie vvhen he buckleth on all his harneſſe, and calleth together all his ſtrength for oppoſition.

      • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The King and Queen Make a Progress to the Frontiers. The Author Attends Them. The Manner in which He Leaves the Country Very Particularly Related. He Returns to England.”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. , volume I, London: Benj Motte, , →OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag), page 292:

        [T]here vvere tvvo ſtrong Staples fixed upon that ſide of my Box vvhich had no VVindovv, and into vvhich the Servant vvho uſed to carry me on horſeback vvoud put a leathern Belt, and buckle it about his VVaſte.

      • 1805, Robert Southey, “Canto XVI”, in Madoc, London: or Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and A Constable and Co, , by James Ballantyne, , →OCLC, part II (Madoc in Aztlan), page 332:

        Buckle this harness on, that, being armed, / I may defend the entrance.

      • 1822 May 29, [Walter Scott], chapter XII, in The Fortunes of Nigel. , volume III, Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 331:

        Out he pulls his pedigree, on he buckles his sword, gives his beaver a brush, and cocks it in the face of all creation.

      • 1836, Cuthbert Clutterbuck , chapter XVII, in Edith of Glammis. , volume I, London: Smith, Elder, & Co. , →OCLC, page 51:

        Thy daughter, Sir Hugh—eh! whom thou carriest off from some unlucky wight, and bucklest up in this bespangled gear?

   2. (figurative)
      2. (reflexive) To apply (oneself) to, or prepare (oneself) for, a task or work; also (obsolete), to equip (oneself) for a battle, expedition, etc.

         Synonym: buckle down

         • 1574, Augustine Marlorate [i.e., Augustin Marlorat], “[Revelation 12:12]”, in Arthur Golding, transl., A Catholike Exposition vpon the Reuelation of Sainct Iohn. , London: H Binneman, for L Harison, and G Bishop, →OCLC, folio 179, verso:

           For this cauſe whẽ the faithfull find themſelues to haue ouercome Satan in one incounter by the grace of Chriſt, let them take good heede that they imagin not their battel to be at an end: but rather let them buckle themſelues to a new charge, and valiantly aduance themſelues to handſtrokes againe.

         • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. , part II (books IV–VI), London: [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 12, page 454:

           He left his lofty ſteede to aide him neare, / And buckling ſoone him ſelfe, gan fiercely fly / Vppon that Carle, to ſaue his friend from ieopardy.

         • 1606, Charles Steuens [i.e., Charles Estienne], John Liebault [i.e., Jean Liébault], “Of Birds of the Pray in Particular”, in Richard Surflet, transl., Maison Rustique, or The Countrey Farme: , London: Arnold Hatfield for Iohn Norton and Iohn Bill, →OCLC, book VII (The Warren), page 879:

           To be breef, haukes ſeeme not to differ, ſaue that all of them doe not flie at all kinde of birds and foules alike, for in deede euery one of them buckleth himſelfe vnto the bird, to the flying vvhereof he is giuen and addicted, and not to others.

         • 1655, Thomas Fuller, “Section VI. To the Masters, Wardens, and All the Members of the Honourable Company of Mercers, of London.”, in The Church-history of Britain; , London: Iohn Williams , →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI), subsections 15–20 (The Rhemish Translation Comes Forth. ), page 69:

           Hereupon [Thomas] Cartwright buckled himself to the employment, and was very forward in the pursuance thereof.

         • a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “Sermon LII. Of Industry in Our General Calling, as Christians.”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. , volume III, London: A J Valpy, , published 1831, →OCLC, page 321:

           It chargeth on us contentedly and patiently to undergo whatever God doth impose of burden or sufferance, so that 'patience have its perfect work;' and it is a crabbed work to bend our stiff inclinations, to quell our refractory passions, to make our sturdy humour buckle thereto.

         • 1838 December 6, James David Forbes, “Personal Life (Continued) ”, in John Campbell Shairp, Peter Guthrie Tait, A Adams-Reilly, Life and Letters of James David Forbes, London: Macmillan and Co., published 1873, →OCLC, page 140:

           … At the very time you were writing I was on a visit to the North of England, by way of a little stretch, before buckling to my winter's work.

      3. (British, dialectal (especially Scotland) or humorous) To unite (people) in marriage; to marry.
         • 1755, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, “The Savoury Conversation that Passed between Don Quixote and His Squire Sancho Panza; with Many Other Incidents”, in T[obias] Smollett, transl., The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote. , volume I, London: A Millar, , →OCLC, part I, book IV, page 228:

           [T]ake my advice, and marry in the firſt place vvhere vve can find a curate; or make uſe of our friend the licentiate, vvho vvill buckle you handſomely.

         • 1822 May 29, [Walter Scott], chapter II, in The Fortunes of Nigel. , volume III, Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 34:

           They were hailed […] as a young strapping Irishman, conveying an ancient maiden to Dr Rigmarole's at Redriffe, who buckles beggars for a tester and a dram of Geneva.

2. (intransitive, figurative)
   1. To apply oneself to or prepare for a task or work.
      • 1563, John Strype, quoting Edwin Sandys, “The Bishop of Worcester’s Vindication of Himself against Sir John Bourne, before the Privy Council. Bourne’s Imprisonment and Submission. ”, in Annals of the Reformation and Establishment of Religion, and Other Various Occurrences in the Church of England; , volume I, London: John Wyat, , published 1709, →OCLC, page 360:

        Sir John diſdainfully looking at him, ſaluted him vvith theſe VVords, Farevvel Sir Knave, (for it is to be noted that it is common vvith him to term many honeſt Men ſo). My Brother anſvvered, Sir, You are no leſs. VVhereat one of Sir John’s Men buckled to fight vvith him. But Sir John ſtayed his Man.

      • 1623 June 21 (Gregorian calendar), Robert Saunderson [i.e., Robert Sanderson], “ The First Sermon. At a Publicke Sessions at Grantham Linc 11. June. 1623.”, in Twelve Sermons, , edition, London: Aug Math, for Robert Dawlman, and are to be sold by Robert Allet, , published 1632, →OCLC, §. 6, page 132:

        The firſt thing vve doe in the morning before vve either eate or drink, or buckle about any vvorldly buſineſſe, is to put our clothes about vs: vve ſay, vve are not ready, till vve haue done that.

      • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Delayes. XXI.”, in The Essayes , 3rd edition, London: Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC, page 126:

        [For a man] to be deceiued, vvith too long Shadovves, […] And ſo to ſhoot off before the time; Or to teach dangers to come on, by ouer early Buckling tovvards them, is another Extreme.

      • 1694, [John Locke], “Of Power”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. , 2nd edition, London: Thomas Dring, ; and Samuel Manship, , →OCLC, book II, § 43, page 139:

        [T]he Epicure buckles to ſtudy, vvhen ſhame, or the deſire to recommend himſelf to his Miſtreſs, ſhall make him uneaſie in the vvant of any ſort of knovvledge.

      • 1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “The Rest of Nic’s Fetches to Keep John out of Ecclesdoun-Castle”, in Lewis Baboon Turned Honest, and John Bull Politician. Being the Fourth Part of Law is a Bottomless-Pit. , London: John Morphew, , →OCLC, page 32:

        At laſt Eſquire South buckl'd to, to aſſiſt his Friend Nic.

      • 1870 March, Bret Harte, “ Chiquita.”, in Poems, Boston, Mass.: Fields, Osgood, & Co., published 1871, →OCLC, page 55:

        Lickity, lickity, switch, we came to the ford, and Chiquita / Buckled right down to her work, […]

      • 1929, D J Munro, “Nemesis”, in The Roaring Forties and After, London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., →OCLC, page 38:

        Then the sergeant let us out, and introducing us to a pile of wood and saws and axes, informed us that when this had been cut up into firewood we should get our breakfast. He sat at the door of his kitchen watching, and seeing there was nothing else for it we buckled to and soon had the job done; when we were admitted to the kitchen and given a really good meal.

      • 1934 October 5, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XXII, in Right Ho, Jeeves, London: Herbert Jenkins , →OCLC, page 280:

        I confess that the recollection of what this bell could do when it buckled down to it gave me pause as I stood that night at 12.30 p.m. prompt beside the outhouse where it was located.

   2. (British, dialectal (especially Scotland) or humorous) To unite with someone in marriage; to marry.
      • 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “ The Sixth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. , London: Printed for Jacob Tonson , →OCLC, page 90:

        Yet thou, they ſay, for Marriage do'ſt provide: / Is this an Age to Buckle vvith a Bride?

   3. (obsolete except British, dialectal) To participate in some contest or labour; to join in close fight; to contend.
      • 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble,  (Coverdale Bible), : , →OCLC, 1 Macchabees iiij:[14–15], folio lxij, verso, column 1:

        So they buckled together, and the Heithen were diſcomfited, and fled ouer the playne felde: but the hynmoſt of them were ſlayne.

      • 1549 March 25 (Gregorian calendar), Hugh Latimer, “Sermon VI. Being the Second Sermon Preached before King Edward VI. March the Fifteenth.”, in The Sermons of the Right Reverend Father in God, Master Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester. , volume I, London: J. Scott, , published 1758, →OCLC, page 90:

        VVell, it chanced that the Lord Protector [Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester] and he [Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester] fell out, and the Biſhop vvould bear nothing at all vvith him, but played me the Satrapa; ſo the Regent of France vvas fain to be ſent for from beyond the ſeas, to ſet them at one, and go betvveen them: For the Biſhop vvas as able and ready to buckle vvith the Lord Protector as he vvas vvith him.

        The spelling has been modernized.

      • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 98, column 2:

        In ſingle Combat thou ſhalt buckle vvith me; / And if thou vanquiſheſt, thy vvords are true, / Othervviſe I renounce all confidence.

      • 1599, Lewis Thomas, “Christ Combating with Satan”, in Seauen Sermons, or, The Exercises of Seuen Sabbaoths. , : Valentine Simmes, →OCLC, folio 50, verso:

        [B]eing armed vvith patience vvhen thou buckleſt vvith affliction or pouertie, hunger, or any croſſe ſoeuer thou canſt ſay, it is nothing to ouercome them.

      • 1749 (date written), David Hume, “Discourse X. Of the Populousness of Antient Nations.”, in Political Discourses, Edinburgh: R. Fleming, for A Kincaid and A Donaldson, published 1752, →OCLC, page 189:

        And as the vvhole armies vvere thus engag'd, and each man cloſely buckl'd to his antagoniſt, the battles vvere commonly very bloody, and great ſlaughter made on both ſides, but eſpecially on the vanquiſh'd.

      • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Cetology”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 158:

        Algerine Porpoise […] Provoke him, and he will buckle to a shark.

Origin uncertain. Probably from Middle English bokelen (“to arch the body”), from Middle French boucler (“to bulge”, literally “to take the shape of a shield boss”), from the same ultimate origin as Etymology 1 above. In some senses, possibly from buck (“to bend, yield, buckle”) +‎ -le (frequentative suffix).

buckle (third-person singular simple present buckles, present participle buckling, simple past and past participle buckled)

1. (transitive)
   2. To cause (something) to bend, or to become distorted.
      • 1605, Francis Bacon, “The Second Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, , →OCLC, folio 18, recto:

        [R]eaſon doth buckle and bovve the Mind vnto the Nature of things.

      • 1621 (date written; published 1658), w:William Rowley, Thomas Dekker, John Ford, “The Witch of Edmonton: A Known True Story. ”, in The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker , volume IV, London: John Pearson , published 1873, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 365:

        Throw all their ſcandalous malice upon me? / 'Cauſe I am poor, deform'd and ignorant, / And like a Bow buckl'd and bent together, / By ſome more ſtrong in miſchiefs then my ſelf?

   3. (obsolete) To curl (hair).
2. (intransitive)
   2. Of a thing (especially a slender structure under compression): to collapse or distort under physical pressure.

      Synonyms: cave, cave in, crumple, fold

      • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, , quarto edition, London: V S for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], signature , verso:

        And as the vvretch vvhoſe feuer-vveakned ioynts, / Like ſtrengthleſſe hinges buckle vnder life, / […] euen ſo my limbes, / VVeakened vvith griefe, being novv enragde vvith griefe, / Are thrice themſelues: […]

      • 1680, Joseph Moxon, “Numb XIII. Applied to the Art of Turning.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, , volume I, London: Joseph Moxon, published 1678, →OCLC, § XVI (Of Turning Long and Slender Work of Ivory), page 222:

        And thus by placing Collers vvhere ever they find the VVork buckle, they (as aforeſaid) vvith Sharp Tools, tender touches, ſomevvhat a looſe and fine String, vveak Bovv, and great care and diligence vvork the vvhole Cilinder dovvn as ſmall as they liſt, either vvith Moldings or other VVork upon it, as beſt likes them.

      • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Wheelbarrow”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 66:

        Sideways leaning, we sideways darted; every ropeyarn tingling like a wire; the two tall masts buckling like Indian canes in land tornadoes.

      • 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, “New Jersey reels from storm’s thrashing”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-04:

        Perhaps as startling as the sheer toll was the devastation to some of the state's well-known locales. Boardwalks along the beach in Seaside Heights, Belmar and other towns on the Jersey Shore were blown away. Amusement parks, arcades and restaurants all but vanished. Bridges to barrier islands buckled, preventing residents from even inspecting the damage to their property.

        Appeared in print on November 1, 2012, on page A1.

   4. (figurative) Of a person: to (suddenly) cease resisting pressure or stress; to give in or give way, to yield.

      Synonyms: break, buck, cave, crumple, fold, surrender

      It is amazing that he has never buckled after so many years of doing such urgent work.

      • 1664 December 27 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “December 17th, 1664”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys , volume IV, London: George Bell & Sons ; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1894, →OCLC, page 309:

        Mr. Gray did tell me to-night, for certain, that the Dutch, as high as they seem, do begin to buckle; and that one man in this Kingdom did tell the King that he is offered £40,000 to make a peace, and others have been offered money also.

• buckled (adjective)
• buckle under
• buckling (adjective, noun)

buckle (countable and uncountable, plural buckles)

1. (countable) A distortion; a bend, bulge, or kink.

   We can’t use that saw any more. It’s got a buckle in its blade.

   1. (roofing) An upward, elongated displacement of a roof membrane, frequently occurring over deck joints or insulation, which may indicate movement of the roof assembly.
2. (countable, Canada, US, baking) Usually preceded by a descriptive word: a cake baked with fresh fruit (often blueberries) and a streusel topping.
4. (countable, obsolete) A curl of hair, especially a kind of crisp curl formerly worn; also (countable, uncountable), the state of hair being curled in this manner.
   • 1711 August 8 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “SATURDAY, July 28, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 129; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, , volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 184:

     The greatest beau at our next county sessions was dressed in a most monstrous flaxen periwig, that was made in king William's reign. The wearer of it goes, it seems, in his own hair when he is at home, and lets his wig lie in buckle for a whole half year, that he may put it on upon occasion to meet the judges in it.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1730 May 5 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Henry Fielding, Tom Thumb. A Tragedy. , London: J. Roberts , published 1730, →OCLC, Act I, scene iv, pages 6–7:

     For vvhat's a VVoman, vvhen her Virtue's gone? / A Coat vvithout its Lace; VVig out of Buckle; / A Stocking vvith a Hole in't.

   • 1731, Alexander Pope, “[Ethic Epistles, the Second Book. To Several Persons.] Epistle III. To Allen Lord Bathurst.”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume II, London: J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver , published 1735, →OCLC, page 22:

     That live-long VVig vvhich Gorgon's ſelf might ovvn, / Eternal buckle takes in Parian ſtone.

   • 1733, George Cheyne, “Of the Signs and Symptoms of a Too Relaxed, Loose and Tender State of Nerves”, in The English Malady: Or, A Treatise of Nervous Diseases of All Kinds, , London: G Strahan ; Bath, Somerset: J. Leake, →OCLC, part I (Of the Nature and Cause of Nervous Distempers), § II, page 100:

     Those that have by Nature ſoft, thin, and ſhort Hair, vvhich, vvith great Difficulty, receives or retains a Buckle, and thoſe vvho readily run into Baldneſs or ſhedding of the Hair tovvards the Spring, are certainly of a looſe, flabby, and relaxed State of Nerves: […]

   • 1762, [Charles Churchill], “Book III”, in The Ghost, London: William Flexney, , →OCLC, page 92:

     Obſerve his ſtiff affected mein, / 'Gainſt Nature arm'd by Gravity, / His features too in buckle ſee, […]

   • 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Adventure of My Uncle”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 1 (Strange Stories. ), Philadelphia, Pa.: H C Carey & I Lea, , →OCLC, page 32:

     He turned round and beheld the old French servant, with his ear locks in tight buckles on each side of a long, lanthorn face, on which habit had deeply wrinkled an everlasting smile.

• sun kink (“a buckle in a railway track”)

• buckle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• buckle (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• buckling (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Edward H[enry] Knight (1877) “Buckle”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. , volumes I (A–GAS), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton , →OCLC, page 397.

• Lubeck, Lübeck