Truckle

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ÊŒkÉ™l

From Middle English trokel, trocle, trookyl, from Medieval Latin trochlea ("a block, sheaf containing one or more pulleys"); or from a diminutive of truck ("wheel"), formed with -le, equivalent to truck + -le.

Alternative forms

• troccle obsolete

Full definition of truckle

Noun

1. a small wheel; a caster or pulley

Derived terms

• truckle bed

Verb

1. To roll or move upon truckles, or casters; to trundle.

From a back formation of truckle bed (a bed on which a pupil slept, because it was rolled on casters into a lower position under the master's larger bed), from Middle English trookylbed. Compare also trundle bed. Assisted by false association with Middle English *trukelen, truken, trokien, trukien, from Old English trucian ("to fail, diminish"), Low German truggeln ("to flatter, fawn"), see truck.

Verb

1. (intransitive) to act in a submissive manner; to fawn, submit to a superior
• 1899, s:Author:William Graham Sumner, s:War and Other Essays Chapter s:The Conquest of the United States by Spain, There is no doubt that moral courage is the virtue which is more needed than any other in the modern democratic state, and ...
  that truckling to popularity is the worst political vice.
• NorrisReligion itself is forced to truckle to worldly policy.

Derived terms

• truckler