Link Centre Dictionary

dock

UK/dɒk/ US/dɔk/ fairly common informal slang uk us
noun (7) verb (5)

noun

1.

an enclosure in a court of law where the defendant sits during the trial

2.

any of certain coarse weedy plants with long taproots, sometimes used as table greens or in folk medicine

Synonyms
3.

a platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats

Synonyms
4.

a platform where trucks or trains can be loaded or unloaded

Synonyms
5.

landing in a harbor next to a pier where ships are loaded and unloaded or repaired; may have gates to let water in or out

  • “the ship arrived at the dock more than a day late”
Synonyms
6.

the solid bony part of the tail of an animal as distinguished from the hair

7.

a short or shortened tail of certain animals

Synonyms

verb

1.

come into dock

  • “the ship docked”
Antonyms
2.

deprive someone of benefits, as a penalty

3.

deduct from someone''s wages

4.

remove or shorten the tail of an animal

Synonyms
5.

haul into a dock

  • “dock the ships”
Antonyms

Origin

A laptop docking (etymology 3, noun sense 5) station A GUI dock (etymology 3, noun sense 6) on Linux From Early Modern English meaning "area of mud in which a ship can rest at low tide, dock", borrowed from either Dutch dok (“dock, wharf”) or Middle Low German docke (“dock, wharf”), both from Middle Dutch docke (“port, harbour”), of uncertain origin. The original sense may have been "the furrow a grounded vessel makes in a mud bank". Compare Danish dok, Dutch dok, West Frisian dok, German Dock, Low German Dock, Swedish docka. Some sources link this word to an unattested Middle Dutch *docke (“watercourse, trench, canal”), which is a ghost word, only being inferred from Mediaeval Latin documents in the form of ducta, doctus, doccia (“conduit, canal”). However, if this theory is correct, then it would relate the word to Italian doccia (“drainpipe”), making dock a doublet of douche and duct. An alternative theory ties Middle Dutch docke to a North Germanic or Scandinavian source, notably Old Norse dǫkk, dökð (“depression in the landscape, pit, pool, trench”); compare Icelandic dökk, Norwegian dokk (“hollow, low ground”), Swedish dank (“marshy ground”). If so, this would make dock a ...

Phrases

  • balance dock Terms derived from dock (Etymology 4)
  • Barry Dock Terms derived from dock (Etymology 4)
  • bloody dock
  • cattle dock Terms derived from dock (Etymology 4)
  • curled dock
  • dock connector Terms derived from dock (Etymology 4)
  • dock door Terms derived from dock (Etymology 4)
  • dock leaf
  • dock pudding
  • dock walloper Terms derived from dock (Etymology 4)
  • dock walloping Terms derived from dock (Etymology 4)
  • dock warrant Terms derived from dock (Etymology 4)

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.