buckle

To have enough money to survive. Although the exact image referred to in this phrase is unclear, it means the same as "make ends meet." Now that I have a well-paying job, I can finally make buckle and tongue meet.

to settle down to something; to begin to work seriously at something. If you don't buckle down to your job, you'll be fired. You had better buckle down and get busy.

to attach someone securely with a vehicle's seat belts. (This includes airplane seat belts.) Don't forget to buckle the children in. Did you buckle in the children?

to attach someone or something down with straps that buckle together. They stopped to buckle the load down again. Did you buckle down the kids?

to attach someone or something securely with straps that buckle together. (This emphasizes the completeness and secureness of the act.) Buckle the children up before we leave. Buckle up your shoes.

to collapse under or from the weight of something. The bridge buckled under the weight of the truck and collapsed. The table finally buckled under.

to buckle one's seat belt, as in a car or plane. Please buckle up so our flight can begin. I wish you would obey the law and belt up.

Fig. to get busy doing something. I want you to knuckle down to your work and stop worrying about the past. Come on. Knuckle down. Get busy.

to do the work you need to do Schools, parents, and students need to buckle down and find ways to reach the new standards.

to fasten a strap that holds you in your seat in a vehicle or aircraft Four out of five children are not correctly buckled up. The pilot asked the passengers to buckle up because we were flying through a storm system.

to work hard You're going to have to knuckle down to improve your grades if you want to get into a good college. Volunteers really knuckled down and cleaned up the town after the storm.

Set to work, apply oneself with determination, as in All right, we'll buckle down now and study for exams. Originating about 1700 as buckle to, the expression gained currency with the football song "Buckle-Down, Winsocki" (from the Broadway musical comedy Best Foot Forward, 1941). [Mid-1800s]

Give way, collapse owing to stress, as in One more heavy snowfall and the roof may buckle under, or She buckled under the strain of two jobs. [Late 1500s]

Fasten a seat belt, as in All the children must learn to buckle up as soon as they get in a car. This term came into wide use in the second half of the 1900s, when seat belts became mandatory automobile equipment. Earlier they had been used mainly in airplanes.

Apply yourself to the job at hand. The phrase comes from the game of marbles, one of the once-popular children's street games. Players shot their “shooter” marble by clenching the marble in a fist with knuckles touching the ground, then launching it with a flick of the thumb. When it was a player's turn and his attention was elsewhere, he was reminded, “Okay, knuckle down.” A similar phrase, “buckle down” most likely came from the idea of tightening your belt before performing an arduous task.