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tuck

Pronunciation: /tʌk/

The English word “tuck” has 19 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To pull or gather up (an item of fabric).
  2. To push into a snug position; to place somewhere safe, or handy, or somewhat hidden.
  3. To eat; to consume.
  4. To fit neatly.
  5. To curl into a ball; to fold up and hold one's legs.
  6. To sew folds; to make a tuck or tucks in.
  7. To full, as cloth.
  8. Of a drag queen, trans woman, etc., to conceal one's penis and testicles, as with a gaff or by fastening them down with adhesive tape.
  9. To keep the thumb in position while moving the rest of the hand over it to continue playing piano keys that are outside the thumb (when playing scales).

noun

  1. An act of tucking; a pleat or fold.
  2. A fold in fabric that has been stitched in place from end to end, as to reduce the overall dimension of the fabric piece.
  3. A curled position.
  4. A plastic surgery technique to remove excess skin.
  5. The act of keeping the thumb in position while moving the rest of the hand over it to continue playing keys that are outside the thumb.
  6. A curled position, with the shins held towards the body.
  7. The afterpart of a ship, immediately under the stern or counter, where the ends of the bottom planks are collected and terminate by the tuck-rail.
  8. Food, especially snack food.
  9. A rapier, a sword.
  10. The beat of a drum.

Etymology

From Middle English tuken, touken (“to torment, to stretch (cloth)”), from Old English tūcian (“to torment, vex”) and Middle Dutch tucken (“to tuck”), both from Proto-Germanic *teuh-, *teug- (“to draw, pull”) (compare also *tukkōną), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull”). Akin to Old High German zucchen (“to snatch, tug”), zuchôn (“to jerk”), German Low German tuken (“to tug, pluck, grab…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.