1
as in collapsed
to fall down or in as a result of physical pressure
the flimsy bridge buckled under the weight of the caravan of trucks
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in devoted
to occupy (oneself) diligently or with close attention
buckled himself down and finished the assignment in record time
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of buckled
Bexley was found unharmed, buckled in her car seat, by passersby who called 911.
—
Dateline Nbc, NBC news, 28 May 2026
City information officer Jay Pelayo said that the building's walls and surrounding scaffolding buckled, trapping people in piles of debris, per the BBC.
—Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 24 May 2026
The shoes feature an open toe design with four criss cross straps over the toes and a thin and dainty buckled ankle strap.
—Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 18 May 2026
Another officer noticed one of the children was not properly buckled and was crying.
—Wcco Staff, CBS News, 14 May 2026
One of the children wasn’t properly buckled and was crying.
—Mara H. Gottfried, Twin Cities, 14 May 2026
Wanner’s 11-month-old baby was buckled into a high chair and crying, without her mom, when a relative arrived to the home that day.
—Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 2 May 2026
The entire roster took that edict to heart in Game 1, and the Timberwolves buckled under the pressure.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 19 Apr. 2026
Throughout Season 51, sketches have buckled under dragging runtimes, one-note jokes bludgeoned to death and facile concepts; earlier this year, another first time host, Teyana Taylor, was similarly let down by sketches that couldn’t match her depth and range as a performer.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 11 Apr. 2026
Dateline Nbc, NBC news, 28 May 2026
City information officer Jay Pelayo said that the building's walls and surrounding scaffolding buckled, trapping people in piles of debris, per the BBC.
—Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 24 May 2026
The shoes feature an open toe design with four criss cross straps over the toes and a thin and dainty buckled ankle strap.
—Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 18 May 2026
Another officer noticed one of the children was not properly buckled and was crying.
—Wcco Staff, CBS News, 14 May 2026
One of the children wasn’t properly buckled and was crying.
—Mara H. Gottfried, Twin Cities, 14 May 2026
Wanner’s 11-month-old baby was buckled into a high chair and crying, without her mom, when a relative arrived to the home that day.
—Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 2 May 2026
The entire roster took that edict to heart in Game 1, and the Timberwolves buckled under the pressure.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 19 Apr. 2026
Throughout Season 51, sketches have buckled under dragging runtimes, one-note jokes bludgeoned to death and facile concepts; earlier this year, another first time host, Teyana Taylor, was similarly let down by sketches that couldn’t match her depth and range as a performer.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 11 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for buckled
Verb
-
Following the 2008 financial crisis, several of Spain’s major industries collapsed, the unemployment rate soared to 27 percent, and the banking system entered such a vicious cycle that not even the Spanish government could afford to rescue it (hence, the EU bailout).—
Rogé Karma,
The Atlantic,
1 June 2026
-
Revenue grew, but margins collapsed and management became chaotic.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
The senator from Texas, one of his party’s most effective fundraisers and influential legislators, devoted his losing campaign and most of the past decade in politics to a wan effort to portray himself as the president’s faithful servant.—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
27 May 2026
-
The brand’s in-house gem setting team used snow, grain, and bezel-setting techniques to play with opacity and reflection on the wrist; in total, the pros devoted nearly 700 hours throughout the painstaking process of prepping and placing all those stones.—
Nicole Hoey,
Robb Report,
27 May 2026
Verb
-
MacKinnon initially crumpled to the ice in pain after blocking the shot, briefly getting to one knee and clearing the puck out of the defensive zone before falling back to the ice.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
25 May 2026
-
Nearby, a different video shows her pink jacket crumpled on the sidewalk and a green purse.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
Discipline visible in advance is easier to defend than discipline applied in crisis.—
Ali Aydan,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
-
Benefit applied instantly at time of booking.—
Jason Stauffer,
CNBC,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
CrowdStrike shares also tumbled around 10% in after-hours trading despite its fiscal first-quarter results narrowly beating Wall Street expectations.—
Dylan Butts,
CNBC,
4 June 2026
-
Chinese demand for oil has tumbled 9% from before the Iran war, according to JPMorgan.—
David Goldman,
CNN Money,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
Jacques Garcia, the man behind Hotel Costes, who gave La Mamounia an extensive facelift in 2009, is a design sensation.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
-
The teller nodded and gave her a smile.—
Maggie O’Farrell,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Buckled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/buckled. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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