[Vocabulary] buck (vt): to pass especially from one person to another

[sitifan]

Relying on such amateurs can be dangerous. Medical opinion varies about when it's necessary to treat hypertension. Blood pressure may change widely over the course of a day, with emotional and physical stress, with the measuring device and how it's used. Proper diagnosis requires a doctor's interpretation of several readings. There might be value to a blood pressure check that doesn't require an office visit - but only if the person taking the reading knows when to tell the subject to see a doctor. A city licensing procedure could make sure they do, and provide the legal basis for keeping phonies off the street. Why is there no such procedure? A spokesman for the Department of Consumer Affairs bucks the question over to the Department of Health. A Health spokesman, citing a legal opinion that giving a blood pressure reading without interpretation isn't medical practice, bucks it back to Consumer Affairs. Worms to both agencies for ducking so obvious a responsibility to protect the public.
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/21/opinion/the-worm-and-the-apple-congested-arteries.html
In the above passage, does the verb "buck" mean "to pass especially from one person to another"?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/buck

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm not familiar with that use of "buck" but in this context it clearly means "pass".

 

[kilroy65]

I guess the meaning of "buck" in this context is similar to the expression "pass the buck".

 

[Rover_KE]

I'm not familiar with that use of "buck" ...

Neither am I. Dictionaries here say this usage is more likely to be found in American English.

 

[SoothingDave]

Seems odd to me, too. I'm only used to seeing "buck" as a verb in "buck the trend," which has nothing to do with passing.

 

[Skrej]

I guess the meaning of "buck" in this context is similar to the expression "pass the buck".

Yes, that's exactly the case. However, I don't think I've heard 'buck' used as a verb in this sense.