Tuck

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tÊ°ÊŒk/
• Rhymes: -ÊŒk

From Middle English tuken#Middle English ("tuken, touken#Middle English"), 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"), Old English tēon ("to draw, pull, train"). More at touch.

Full definition of tuck

Verb

1. (transitive) To pull or gather up (an item of fabric). From 14thC.
2. (transitive) To push into a snug position; to place somewhere safe or somewhat hidden. From 1580s.Tuck in your shirt.I tucked in the sheet.He tucked the $10 bill into his shirt pocket.
3. (intransitive, often with "in" or "into") To eat; to consume. From 1780s.
4. (ergative) To fit neatly.The sofa tucks nicely into that corner.Kenwood House is tucked into a corner of Hampstead Heath.
5. To curl into a ball; to fold up and hold one's legs.The diver tucked, flipped, and opened up at the last moment.
6. To sew folds; to make a tuck or tucks in.to tuck a dress
7. To full, as cloth.
8. (LGBT, of a drag queen, transwoman, etc.) To conceal one’s genitals, as with a gaff or by fastening them down with adhesive tape.Honey, have you tucked today? We don’t wanna see anything nasty down there.
9. (when playing scales on piano keys) To keep the thumb in position while moving the rest of the hand over it to continue playing keys that are outside the thumb.

Antonyms

• untuck

Derived terms

• tuck away
• tuck in
• tuck into
• nip and tuck

Noun

1. An act of tucking; a pleat or fold. From late 14thC.
2. (sewing) 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. (medicine, surgery) A plastic surgery technique to remove excess skin.
5. (music, piano, when playing scales on piano keys) 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. (diving) A curled position, with the shins held towards the body.

Related terms

• tucker

From Old French estoc ("rapier"), from Italian stocco ("a truncheon, a short sword")

Noun

1. (archaic) A rapier, a sword.
• 1663, Hudibras, by Samuel Butler, part 1,... with force he labour'd
  To free's blade from retentive scabbard;
  And after many a painful pluck,
  From rusty durance he bail'd tuck ...
• Sir Walter ScottHe wore large hose, and a tuck, as it was then called, or rapier, of tremendous length.

Compare tocsin.

Noun

1. The beat of a drum.

Old Provencal tuc ("uncooked").

Noun

1. Food, especially snack food.

Derived terms

• tuck shop
• tuck box
• tuck in