Tuck Definition

tŭk

tucked, tucking, tucks

verb

tucked, tucking, tucks

To thrust the edges of (a sheet, napkin, shirt, etc.) under or in, in order to make secure.

Webster's New World

To sew a fold or folds in (a garment)

Webster's New World

To pull up or gather up in a fold or folds; draw together so as to make shorter.

To tuck up one's skirt for wading.

Webster's New World

To cover or wrap snugly in or as in this way, as with bedclothes.

To tuck a child in for the night.

Webster's New World

To draw together; pucker.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

noun

tucks

A sewed fold in a garment, for shortening or decoration.

Webster's New World

The act of tucking.

American Heritage

A flattened pleat or fold, especially a very narrow one stitched in place.

American Heritage

The part of a ship's hull under the stern where the ends of the bottom planks come together.

American Heritage

A position of the body, esp. in diving, in which the knees are drawn up tightly to the chest.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

idiom

tuck away

Webster's New World

tuck in

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Tuck

Singular:

tuck

Plural:

From Middle English tuken, touken (“to torment, to stretch (cloth)"), from Old English tÅ«cian (“to torment, vex") and Middle Dutch tucken (“to tuck"), both from Proto-Germanic *teuh-, *teug- (“to draw, pull") (compare also *tukkōnÄ…), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull"). Akin to Old High German zucchen (“to snatch, tug"), zuchôn (“to jerk"), Old English tÄ“on (“to draw, pull, train"). More at touch.

From Wiktionary
From Middle English tukken to beat a drum from Old North French toquer to strike from Vulgar Latin toccāre

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Middle English tukken possibly from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch tocken, tucken

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Perhaps from French dialectal étoc from Old French estoc of Germanic origin

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Old French estoc (“rapier"), from Italian stocco (“a truncheon, a short sword")

From Wiktionary
Old Provençal tuc (“uncooked").

From Wiktionary
Origin unknown

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Compare tocsin.

From Wiktionary