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buck breaking

noun

The act of publicly punishing a male slave, typically by flogging him, and in some cases subsequently sexually assaulting or raping him in front of other slaves, in order to humiliate him.

First used 21st century

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Meanings

nounbuck breaking (uncountable)

offensiveuncountableThe act of publicly punishing a male slave, typically by flogging him, and in some cases subsequently sexually assaulting or raping him in front of other slaves, in order to humiliate him.First known use 21st century
We are playing the devil's game without his infernal name in this good for nothing God forsaken buck breaking society.
2021, Richard Shine, The Emmanuel 9
3 more examples
One example of this destructive process came in the form of “buck breaking.” This practice involved the breaking of the most masculine, rebellious, and/or influential of the enslaved Black males.
2015, Mwalimu J. Shujaa, Kenya J. Shujaa, The SAGE Encyclopedia of African Cultural Heritage in North America
Slaves were subject to a process called “buck breaking,” a method that was used by slave owners to strike fear in the observing slaves.
2018, Rashad McCants, Plantation Education
As a means of breaking us psychologically, during slavery, white slave masters' implemented the “buck breaking” method.
2018, C. M. Fox, K. C. Dillon, Conversations of a Conscious Black Girl, page 16

Origin

buck (in derogatory US sense of a black man) + breaking (as in breaking a horse)

Full word history & related roots →

Cite this entry

APA

buck breaking. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buck%20breaking

MLA

“buck breaking.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buck%20breaking. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “buck breaking,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buck%20breaking.

Source: buck breaking on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.