Tuck Meaning
/tʌk/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo pull or gather up (an item of fabric).
verbTo push into a snug position; to place somewhere safe, or handy, or somewhat hidden.
Sentence Examples
At night, parents tuck their children into bed.
Tuck your shirt in.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To make her child comfortable, she should ____ the covers tightly around him.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please remember to ____ your shirt into your trousers before you go to the important meeting with the manager today.
Word Origin & History
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 and pull towards”), Old English tēon (“to draw, pull, train”). Doublet of touch.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It was flood-tide along Fifth Avenue; motor, brougham, and victoria swept by on the glittering current; pretty women glanced out from limousine and tonneau; young men of his own type, silk-hatted, frock-coated, the crooks of their walking sticks tucked up under their left arms, passed on the Park side."
— 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “His Own People”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 6:
"'What on earth do Coker and his parcel of tuck matter to us? You're not thinking of snooping his tuck, I suppose, like Bunter.'"
— 1956, Charles Hamilton, The Banishing of Billy Bunter:
"[…] 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 […]"
— 1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto II.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:
"[...] dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly. [...]"
— c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
"He wore large hose,[…] and a tuck, as it was then called, or rapier, of tremendous length."
— 1826, [Walter Scott], Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
To make her child comfortable, she should ____ the covers tightly around him.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please remember to ____ your shirt into your trousers before you go to the important meeting with the manager today.