BUCK'LE, noun

1. An instrument made of some kind of metal, for fastening together certain parts of dress, as the straps and bands, as in a harness. The forms are various, but it consists of a ring or rim with a chape and tongue.

2. A curl, or a state of being curled or crisped, as hair.

3. In coats of arms, a token of the surety, faith and service of the bearer.

BUCK'LE, verb transitive To fasten with a buckle or buckles.

1. To prepare for action; a metaphor, taken from buckling on armor.

2. To join in battle.

3. To confine or limit

A span buckles in his sum of age.

BUCKLE, verb intransitive To bend; to bow; as, to buckle under life.

To buckle to, to bend to; to apply with vigor; to engage with zeal.

To buckle in, to close in; to embrace or seize the body, as in a scuffle; a popular use in America.

To buckle with, to encounter with embrace; to join in close combat.