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

British Dictionary definitions for say 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 say uncle (1 of 2)

say uncle

see cry uncle.

Idioms and Phrases with say uncle (2 of 2)

uncle

see cry uncle; Dutch uncle.