uncle
[ uhng-kuh l ]
/ ˈʌŋ kəl /
noun
a brother of one's father or mother.
an aunt's husband.
a familiar title or term of address for any elderly man.
Slang.
a pawnbroker.
(initial capital letter) Informal.
Uncle Sam.
a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter U.
Idioms for uncle
say/cry uncle, Informal.
to concede defeat: They ganged up on him in the schoolyard and made him say uncle.
Origin of uncle
1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French
uncle, Old French
oncle < Latin
avunculus mother's brother, equivalent to
av(us) mother's father +
-unculus suffix extracted from diminutives of n-stems (see
homunculus)
OTHER WORDS FROM uncle
un·cle·less, adjective un·cle·ship, nounWords nearby uncle
British Dictionary definitions for cry uncle
uncle
/ (ˈʌŋkəl) /
noun
a brother of one's father or mother
the husband of one's aunt
a term of address sometimes used by children for a male friend of their parents
slang
a pawnbroker
Other words from uncle
Related adjective: avuncularWord Origin for uncle
C13: from Old French
oncle, from Latin
avunculus; related to Latin
avus grandfather
Cultural definitions for cry uncle
say (cry) uncle
To admit defeat, to surrender: “Wilbur held his little brother in a headlock until he had to cry uncle.”
Idioms and Phrases with cry uncle (1 of 2)
cry uncle
Also, say uncle. Concede defeat, as in The Serbs want the Bosnians to cry uncle, or If you say uncle right now, I'll let you go first in the next game. This phrase originated about 1900 as an imperative among school-children who would say, “Cry uncle when you've had enough (of a beating).” By the mid-1900s it was being used figuratively, as in the examples.
Idioms and Phrases with cry uncle (2 of 2)
uncle
see cry uncle; Dutch uncle.