Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A nobleman with the highest hereditary rank, especially a man of the highest grade of the peerage in Great Britain.
- noun A sovereign prince who rules an independent duchy in some European countries.
- noun Used as the title for such a nobleman.
- noun Slang The fists.
- noun Botany A type of cherry intermediate between a sweet and a sour cherry.
- intransitive verb To fight, especially with fists.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To play the duke.
- noun A dialectal (Scotch) form of
duck . - noun A vehicle having a victoria body suspended at the front on scroll-irons. At the rear is a rumble for a footman. It is sometimes driven by a postilion. Now called a ladies' driving-phaëton.
- noun A chief; a prince; a commander; a leader: as, “the dukes of Edom,”
- noun In Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, a hereditary title of nobility, ranking next below that of prince, but in some instances a sovereign title, as in those of the dukes of Burgundy, Normandy, Lorraine, etc. (see 3, below), or borne as his distinguishing title by a prince of the blood royal.
- noun A sovereign prince, the ruler of a state called a duchy.
- noun A name of the great eagle-owl of Europe, Bubo maximus, called
grand-duc by the French. - noun plural The fists.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb Poetic To play the duke.
- transitive verb slang To beat with the fists.
- transitive verb to fight; -- usually implying, to fight with the fists; to settle a dispute by fighting with the fists. See
duke , n. sense 4. - noun obsolete A leader; a chief; a prince.
- noun In England, one of the highest order of nobility after princes and princesses of the royal blood and the four archbishops of England and Ireland.
- noun In some European countries, a sovereign prince, without the title of king.
- noun slang The fists.
- noun See
Illust. ofCoronet . - noun to go without dinner. See under
Dine .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The male ruler of a
duchy (compareduchess ). - noun A high title of
nobility ; the male holder of adukedom . - noun A
grand duke . - noun slang, usually in plural A
fist . - verb transitive To
hit orbeat with the fists.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a nobleman (in various countries) of high rank
- noun a British peer of the highest rank
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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It is permitted to touch upon the habits and appearance of a truly great man; but to dwell upon the peculiarities of a duke, merely because he is a duke, is as much as to say he is your superior; a concession, I do not feel disposed to make in favour of any _mere duke_ in Christendom.
Recollections of Europe James Fenimore Cooper 1820
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IV. iii.163 (113,4) [if the old fantastical duke] Sir Thomas Hammer reads, _the_ odd _fantastical duke_, but _old_ is a common word of aggravation in ludicrous language, as, _there was_ old _revelling_.
Notes to Shakespeare — Volume 01: Comedies Samuel Johnson 1746
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Any leader was a ‘duke’ (dux); thus “_duke_ Hannibal” (Sir
English Past and Present Richard Chenevix Trench 1846
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I am VERY dissapointed that they changed the voice for duke from the one used in duke nukem 3d … That game was so very fun – and lame – because of that voice.
EXTRALIFE – By Scott Johnson - Duke Nukem Forever teaser posted 2007
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Royal watchers called the bestowal of the title duke of Cambridge a personal mark of esteem from the queen.
The Seattle Times 2011
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Mr. Duke, anyone see the irony in duke linking to the debt clock?
Think Progress » Steele: ‘Trust Me, After Taxes, A Million Dollars Is Not A Lot Of Money’ 2010
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LOL whats with the trolls and octomom today. thinking duke is server etc …
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Oh this is gonna be fun watching Pawlenty and Palin duke it out!
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Let him and McCain duke it out to see who can out conservative the other.
Think Progress » Hayworth: Birtherism is an ‘identity theft’ issue. 2010
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Fred ♪ ♫ ♪ says: the thing that makes me laugh at racists like duke is that the white race in America in very nearly a minority.
johnmperry commented on the word duke
variety of cherry
June 18, 2008