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, noun

Example sentences from the Web for uncle

British Dictionary definitions for 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: avuncular

Word Origin for uncle

C13: from Old French oncle, from Latin avunculus; related to Latin avus grandfather

Idioms and Phrases with uncle

uncle

see cry uncle; Dutch uncle.