buckler Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun armor carried on the arm to intercept blows
    shield.

WordNet

Buc"kler noun
Etymology
OE. bocler, OF. bocler, F. bouclier, a shield with a boss, from OF. bocle, boucle, boss. See Buckle, n.
Definitions
  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.
Buc"kler transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To shield; to defend. Obs.
    Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right, Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree? Shak.

Webster 1913