tuck

Meanings

Verb

• To pull or gather up (an item of fabric).
• To push into a snug position; to place somewhere safe or somewhat hidden.
• To eat; to consume.
• To fit neatly.
• To curl into a ball; to fold up and hold one's legs.
• To sew folds; to make a tuck or tucks in.
• To full, as cloth.
• To conceal one’s penis and testicles, as with a gaff or by fastening them down with adhesive tape.
• To keep the thumb in position while moving the rest of the hand over it to continue playing keys that are outside the thumb.

Noun

• An act of tucking; a pleat or fold.
• A fold in fabric that has been stitched in place from end to end, as to reduce the overall dimension of the fabric piece.
• A curled position.
• A plastic surgery technique to remove excess skin.
• 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.
• A curled position, with the shins held towards the body.
• 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.
• A rapier, a sword.
• The beat of a drum.
• Food, especially snack food.

Related

Opposite words

• untuck

Origin

• From Middle English tuken, touken, from Old English tūcian and Middle Dutch tucken, both from Proto-Germanic *teuh-, *teug- (compare also *tukkōną), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-. Akin to Old High German zucchen, zuchôn, Old English tēon. touch.
• From Old French estoc, from Italian stocco
• Compare tocsin.
• Old Occitan tuc.