- tuck
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I. verb
Etymology: Middle English tuken to mistreat, finish (cloth) by stretching and beating, tuck, from Old English tūcian to mistreat; akin to Old High German zuhhen to jerk, Old English togian to pull — more at tow
Date: 14th century
transitive verb
1.
a. to pull up into a fold
b. to make a tuck in
2. to put into a snug often concealing or isolating place <a cottage tucked away in the hill> 3. a. to push in the loose end of so as to hold tightly <tuck in your shirt> b. to cover by tucking in bedclothes — usually used with in 4. eat — usually used with away or in <tucked away a big lunch> 5. to put into a tuck position intransitive verb 1. to draw together into tucks or folds 2. to eat or drink heartily — usually used with into <tucked into their beer and pretzels> 3. to fit snugly II. noun Date: 1532 1. a fold stitched into cloth to shorten, decorate, or control fullness 2. the part of a vessel where the ends of the lower planks meet under the stern 3. a. an act or instance of tucking b. something tucked or to be tucked in 4. a. a body position (as in diving) in which the knees are bent, the thighs drawn tightly to the chest, and the hands clasped around the shins b. a skiing position in which the skier squats forward and holds the ski poles under the arms and parallel to the ground 5. a cosmetic surgical operation for the removal of excess skin or fat from a body part <a tummy tuck> III. noun Etymology: Middle English (Scots) tuicke beat, stroke Date: 15th century a sound of or as if of a drumbeat IV. noun Etymology: Middle French estoc, from Old French, sword point, from estochier to strike with the sword tip, thrust, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch stoken to thrust, poke — more at stoke Date: 1508 archaic rapier V. noun Etymology: probably from 2tuck Date: 1878 vigor, energy <seemed to kind of take the tuck all out of me — Mark Twain>
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.