Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A fuller.
  • To tire; weary; cause to be tired or exhausted: commonly in the phrase tuckered out, as a fish by struggling on the hook.
  • noun One who or that which tucks.
  • noun A piece of linen, lace, or other delicate fabric, covering the neck and shoulders of a woman above the top of the bodice.
  • noun Food: same as tuck, n., 8.
  • noun Hence Work by which a miner is hardly able to make a living.
  • noun A state of fatigue or exhaustion: as, to put one in a mighty tucker.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb Colloq. U. S. To tire; to weary; -- usually with out.
  • noun One who, or that which, tucks; specifically, an instrument with which tuck are made.
  • noun A narrow piece of linen or the like, folded across the breast, or attached to the gown at the neck, forming a part of a woman's dress in the 17th century and later.
  • noun Prov. Eng. A fuller.
  • noun Slang or Colloq. Daily food; meals; also, food in general.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun countable Lace or a piece of cloth in the neckline of a dress.
  • verb To tire out or exhaust a person or animal.
  • noun countable One who or that which tucks.
  • noun uncountable, colloquial, Australia, New Zealand Food.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sewer who tucks
  • noun United States anarchist influential before World War I (1854-1939)
  • verb wear out completely
  • noun a detachable yoke of linen or lace worn over the breast of a low-cut dress
  • noun United States vaudevillian (born in Russia) noted for her flamboyant performances (1884-1966)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English tokker ("one who dresses or finishes cloth")

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

tuck +‎ -er

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Examples

  • June 10th, 2008 1: 36 pm ET he's not being paid to be on the commitee. tucker is lame, and a liar, and a ridiculous republican.

    Obama beats back criticism over head of VP search 2008

  • He also called tucker a dick which was even funnier.

    Think Progress » Geraldo attacks Stewart, Colbert for bad taste. 2006

  • When Archibald Forbes was in New Zealand a few years ago, he met a peer's son who was earning his 'tucker' as a station-cook.

    Australian Writers Desmond Byrne

  • With a wild whoop fifty of them dashed for tickets, some "tucker," and

    The Kangaroo Marines R. W. Campbell

  • An exquisite portrait of Louis Philippe's Queen, Marie Amelia, by the early Victorian painter Winterhalter (whose paintings are again by the revival of fashion coming into favour) shows this fine old _grande dame_ in black velvet dress covered with three graduated flounces of Brussels lace, cap and lappets and "tucker" of the same lace, lace fan, and, sad to relate, a scarf of English machine-made net, worked with English run embroidery!

    Chats on Old Lace and Needlework Emily Leigh Lowes

  • "Don't mind if I do," each man answered, as he rose from his swag, and moved over to the place where the "tucker" was.

    Colonial Born A tale of the Queensland bush G. Firth Scott 1900

  • The remainder of the day belonged to the world, to duty, to the man who paid me a pound a week and "tucker" for my hands and arms and as much brains as work with sheep demanded.

    A Tramp's Notebook Morley Roberts 1899

  • Then follows a feast, the inevitable surfeit, and the dire conclusion that crocodile as "tucker" is no good.

    Confessions of a Beachcomber 1887

  • By rapid travelling our "tucker" could be made to last out the time.

    Spinifex and Sand David Wynford Carnegie 1885

  • I was the youngest of the party, and consequently the most inexperienced, but my mates good-naturedly overlooked my shortcomings as a prospector and digger, especially as I had constituted myself the "tucker" provider when our usual rations of salt beef ran out.

    The Call Of The South 1908 Louis Becke 1884

Comments

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  • Australianism - food. Often heard in the compound bush tucker meaning sourced from the wild rather than cultivated.

    November 27, 2007

  • Or, if you're WeirdNet, it's an American anarchist active before World War I (1854–1939). That date listing is awfully misleading.

    Edit: I meant to say that the date listing should be after "anarchist," not after WWI. Whoops.

    November 27, 2007