duke

nounverbcommon in dialogue

//dʒuːk//
//djuːk//
//duːk//

The male ruler of a duchy (female equivalent: duchess).

noun

1
The male ruler of a duchy (female equivalent: duchess).
2
The sovereign of a small state.
3
A high title of nobility; the male holder of a dukedom.
4
A grand duke.
5
Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genera Bassarona and Dophla.
6
slangA fist.
Put up your dukes!
“Your friend sure knows how to use his dukes. Biff, bang! One, two, and the copʼs on his ass!”
"How did the sport go." "O sparred a few rounds. Let the instructor have a few on the button." "You must be tough." "I can handle my dukes."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dewk- Proto-Indo-European *déwkti Proto-Italic *doukō Latin dūcō Proto-Indo-European *-s Latin -s Latin dux, ducemlbor. Old French ducder. English duke From Old French duc, through Middle English duk, duke, from Latin dux, ducis. Displaced native Old English heretoga. Was present as duc in late Old English, from the same Latin source. Doublet of doge, duc, duce, and dux. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-, which is also the source of the second component in German Herzog. The “fist” sense is thought to be Cockney rhyming slang where “Duke(s) of York” = fork. Fork is itself Cockney slang for hand, and thus fist.

verb

1
informalTo hit or beat with the fists.
It seems that PI Rainer was duked by his wife […].
2
slangTo give cash to; to give a tip to.
I duked him twenty dollars.
3
To perform the duties of, or rule over as, a duke.

Forms

plural: dukes
past tense: duked
past participle: duked
present participle: duking
third person singular: dukes

Duffy · A surname from Irish, an anglicization of Ó Dubhthaigh…dug · A mammary gland on a domestic mammal with more than two…duh · A disdainful indication that something is obvious.

duke · The male ruler of a duchy (female equivalent: duchess).

Duke · The title of a duke.dukes · One's parents.Dukes · A surname.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.