BUCK  . (r) (From the O . Eng. buc, a he-

goat, and bucca, a male deer), the male of several animals, of goats, hares and rabbits, and particularly of the fallow-deer . During the 18th century the word was used of a spirited, reckless young man of fashion, and later, with particular reference to extravagance in dress, of a dandy . (2) (From a root common to Teutonic and Romance languages, cf. the Ger . Bauch, Fr. buee, and Ital. bucata), the bleaching of clothes in lye, also the lye itself, and the clothes to be bleached, so a " buck-basket " means a basket of clothes ready for the wash . (3) Either from an obsolete word meaning " body," or from the sense of bouncing or jumping, derived from (1), a word now only found in compound words, as " buck-board," a light four-wheeled vehicle, the primitive form of which has one or more seats on a springy board, joining the front and rear axles and serving both as springs and body; a " buck-wagon " (Dutch, bok-wagen) is a South African cart with a frame projecting over the wheels, used for the transport of heavy loads . (4) (Either from " buck " a he-goat, or from a common Teutonic root, to bend, as seen in the Ger. bi cken, and Eng . " bow "), a verb meaning " to leap "; seen especially in the compound " buck-jumper," a horse which leaps clear off the ground, with feet tucked together and arched back, descending with fore-feet rigid and head down and drawn inwards . BUCK-BEAN, or BOG-BEAN (Menyanthes trifoliate, a member of the Gentian family), a bog-plant with a creeping stem, alternately arranged large leaves each with three leaflets, and spikes of white or pink flowers . The stout stem is bitter and has tonic and febrifuge properties . The plant is widely distributed through the north temperate zone .