A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare, and sometimes the male of other animals such as the hamster, ferret, shad and kangaroo.

The place-marker was commonly referred to as a buck, which reinforced the term “ pass the buck” used in poker, and eventually a silver dollar was used in place of a knife, which also led to a dollar being referred to as a buck. The sense of an object indicating someone’s turn then occurred in American English, possibly originating from the game poker, where a knife (typically with a hilt made from a stag horn) was used as a place-marker to signify whose turn it was to deal. The idea of rigidly standing implements is instilled by Dutch bok ( “ sawhorse ” ) as in zaagbok ( “ sawbuck ” ). Doublet of puck ( billy goat ).Ĭurrency-related senses hail from American English, a clipping of buckskin as a unit of trade among Indians and Europeans in frontier days (attested from 1748).

Homophone: book ( accents without the foot–⁠strut split )įrom Middle English bukke, bucke, buc, from Old English buc, bucc, bucca ( “ he-goat, stag ” ), from Proto-West Germanic *bukk, *bukkō, from Proto-Germanic *bukkaz, *bukkô ( “ buck ” ), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuǵ- ( “ ram ” ).

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gag.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. 2023 The current whereabouts of many of these gag gifts is unknown, although photos of them can be found online in the MIT Museum archives. Margie Zable Fisher, Fortune Well, 10 Sep. 2023 Her friends played irreverent games and showered her with gag gifts. 2023 The gag has become a bit of a tradition at the Invictus Games. 2023 Some of the gags, like some of the actors, land with a bit of a thud. 2023 The films of Béla Tarr allow the viewer to feel time in a more subtle and mysterious way, not as a gag, but as renditions of infinity.

2023 The swim team had an Italian feast, and then some of the swimmers lugged a leftover 5-pound bag of Mexican-blend cheese around the halls as a gag. Sarah-Tai Black, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2023 Any gags that are even halfway successful are promptly mined to death as the film continues to almost compulsively reach for them as the lowest of hanging fruit. Noun One gag, in which Ramos’s character snorts his phone like a line of cocaine, was Gillespie’s idea on the day of filming. Hiba Yazbek, New York Times, 14 June 2023 2023 Israeli military prosecutors will not pursue criminal charges against soldiers who detained and gagged a 78-year-old Palestinian American man and then left him unconscious in a building site shortly before he was pronounced dead. 2023 As reported by El País, the photo showed the five friends gagged and kneeling while displaying bloodied and bruised faces. 2023 One drawing shows what looks like a young female gagged and bound at her arms and legs. 2023 The killer is then shown committing several more murders, while Rae, 22, briefly appears during a scene in which she is bound to a chair and gagged.

Cori Sears, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 Sep. 2023 Now imagine these items being covered in microscopic fecal matter and just try not to gag. 2023 Videos show people gagging, begging for water Sales of the chip seem largely driven by people posting videos on social media of them or their friends, including teens and children, eating the chips and then reacting to the heat. Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2023 Some videos show people gagging, coughing and begging for water. Verb Ciara reacted as Anthony gagged, playfully disagreeing with her friend.

Buck and gag definition