Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Beck

//ˈbɛk// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname. countable, uncountable

    "As Glenn Beck was bashing Sarvis as a GPS-installing LINO on his show,,^([sic]) his muckraking journalists at TheBlaze "revealed" that Sarvis was "bankrolled" by an "Obama bundler.""

  2. 2
    An unincorporated community in Covington County, Alabama, United States, likely named after the Beck family. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    The River Beck, or The Beck, a minor river in south-east Greater London, England, which becomes the Pool River before joining the Ravensbourne. countable, uncountable
Noun
  1. 1
    A stream or small river. Norfolk, Northern-England

    "[…]Whence, climing to the Cleeves, her selfe she firmlie sets / The Bourns, the Brooks, the Becks, the Rills, the Rivilets[…]"

  2. 2
    A significant nod, or motion of the head or hand, especially as a call or command.

    "Ah, knovv you not the Citie fauours them, / And they haue troupes of Souldiers at their beck?"

  3. 3
    A vat.
  4. 4
    Obsolete form of beak. alt-of, obsolete

    "Headed like owles, with beckes 4 uncomely bent"

  5. 5
    a beckoning gesture wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To nod or motion with the head. archaic

    "When gold and silver becks me to come on."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English bek, bekk, becc, from Old English bæc, bec, bæċe, beċe (“beck, brook”), from Proto-Germanic *bakiz (“stream”). Cognate with Old Norse bekkr (“a stream or brook”), Low German bek, beck, German Bach, Dutch beek, Swedish bäck, Doublet of batch. More at beach.

Etymology 2

From Middle English bekken, a shortened form of Middle English bekenen, from Old English bēcnan, bēacnian (“to signify; beckon”), from Proto-West Germanic *baukn, from Proto-Germanic *baukną (“beacon”). More at beacon.

Etymology 3

From Middle English bekken, a shortened form of Middle English bekenen, from Old English bēcnan, bēacnian (“to signify; beckon”), from Proto-West Germanic *baukn, from Proto-Germanic *baukną (“beacon”). More at beacon.

Etymology 4

See back.

Etymology 5

From Middle English bec, bek, from Old French bec (“beak”).

Etymology 6

* As a German surname, from Beck (“stream, brook”), see also Old Norse bekkr. Also a spelling variant of Becker (“baker”). * As a Hebrew surname, shortened from בני (B'nei) קדושים (Kdoshim, “sons of the martyrs”).

See also for "beck"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: beck