becking

beck

1 [bek]
noun
1.
a gesture used to signal, summon, or direct someone.
2.
Chiefly Scot. a bow or curtsy of greeting.
verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
3.
Archaic. beckon.
4.
at someone's beck and call, ready to do someone's bidding; subject to someone's slightest wish: He has three servants at his beck and call.

Origin:
1325–75; Middle English becken, short variant of becnen to beckon

Dictionary.com Unabridged

beck

3 [bek]
verb (used with object) Metalworking.
to form (a billet or the like) into a tire or hoop by rolling or hammering on a mandrel or anvil.

Origin:
v. use of beck (noun), shortening of beck-iron, variant of bick-iron

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To Becking
00:10
Becking is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
Collins
World English Dictionary
beck1 (bɛk) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a nod, wave, or other gesture or signal
2.  at someone's beck and call ready to obey someone's orders instantly; subject to someone's slightest whim
 
[C14: short for becnen to beckon]

beck2 (bɛk) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
(in N England) a stream, esp a swiftly flowing one
 
[Old English becc, from Old Norse bekkr; related to Old English bece, Old Saxon beki, Old High German bah brook, Sanskrit bhanga wave]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

beck
late 14c., "mute signal," from bekken (v.), var. of becnan "to beckon" (see beckon). Transferred sense of "slightest indication of will" is from late 15c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT