The Dutch, as high as they seem, do begin to buckle.
Pepys.
4. To enter upon some labor or contest; to join in close fight; to struggle; to contend.
The bishop was as able and ready to buckle with the Lord Protector as he was with him.
Latimer.
In single combat thou shalt buckle with me.
Shak.
To buckle to, to bend to; to engage with zeal.
To make our sturdy humor buckle thereto.
Barrow.
Before buckling to my winter's work.
J. D. Forbes.
Buc"kler (&?;), 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.
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.
2. (Zoöl.) (a) One of the large, bony, external plates found on many ganoid fishes. (b) The anterior segment of the shell of trilobites.
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.
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.