Other

dock2

Syllabification: (dock)

Pronunciation: /däk/

Translate dock | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish

Definition of dock

verb

[with object] (usually be docked)

deduct (something, especially an amount of money):their wages are docked for public displays of affection [with two objects]:he will be docked an hour’s pay
cut short (an animal’s tail):fifteen of the dogs had had their tails docked

noun

the solid bony or fleshy part of an animal’s tail, excluding the hair.
the stump left after a tail has been docked.

Origin:

late Middle English: perhaps related to Frisian dok 'bunch, ball (of string, etc.)' and German Docke 'doll'. The original noun sense was 'the solid part of an animal's tail', whence the verb sense 'cut short (an animal's tail)', later generalized to 'reduce, deduct'

dock in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of dock in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

More results for dock

Subscriber login

Library card login