decking

a floorlike surface wholly or partially occupying one level of a hull, superstructure, or deckhouse, generally cambered, and often serving as a member for strengthening the structure of a vessel.

the space between such a surface and the next such surface above: Our stateroom was on B deck.

any open platform suggesting an exposed deck of a ship.

an open, unroofed porch or platform extending from a house or other building. Compare sun deck.

any level, tier, or vertical section, as of a structure or machine.

flight deck ( def 2 ).

a flat or nearly flat watertight surface, as at the top of a French roof.

a floor or roof surface composed of decking units.

Meteorology. cloud deck. See cloud layer.

Slang. a small packet of a narcotic, especially heroin.

10.

a pack of playing cards.

11.

Printing. bank³ ( def 8 ).

12.

Also called rear deck. the cover of a space behind the backseat of an automobile or the space itself.

13.

Library Science. a level of book shelving and associated facilities in the stacks of a library, as one of a series of floors or tiers.

14.

cutter deck.

15.

a cassette deck or tape deck.

adjective

16.

Civil Engineering. (of a bridge truss) having a deck or floor upon or above the structure. Compare through ( def 22 ).

verb (used with object)

17.

to clothe or attire (people) or array (rooms, houses, etc.) in something ornamental or decorative (often followed by out ): We were all decked out in our Sunday best. The church was decked with holly for the holiday season.

18.

to furnish with a deck.

19.

Informal. to knock down; floor: The champion decked the challenger in the first round.

Idioms

20.

clear the decks,

to prepare for combat, as by removing all unnecessary gear.

to prepare for some activity or work, as by getting rid of hindrances.

21.

hit the deck, Slang.

Nautical. to rise from bed.

to fall, drop, or be knocked to the ground or floor.

22.

on deck,

Baseball. next at bat; waiting one's turn to bat.

Informal. next in line; coming up; scheduled.

Informal. prepared to act or work; ready.

23.

play with/have a full deck, Slang. to be sane, rational, or reasonably intelligent: Whoever dreamed up this scheme wasn't playing with a full deck.

24.

stack the deck. stack ( def 24 ).

Origin:
1425–75; (noun) late Middle English dekke material for covering < Middle Dutch dec covering, roof; (v.) < Dutch dekken to cover; cognate with German decken; cf. thatch

Related forms

un·decked, adjective

Synonyms
17. bedeck, garnish, trim, bedizen, adorn, embellish; dress.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To decking

00:10

Decking is always a great word to know.

So is callithumpian. Does it mean:

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Collins

World English Dictionary

deck (dɛk)

—n
1.	nautical any of various platforms built into a vessel: a promenade deck; the poop deck
2.	a similar floor or platform, as in a bus
3.	a. the horizontal platform that supports the turntable and pick-up of a record player
	b. See tape deck
4.	chiefly (US) a pack of playing cards
5.	obsolete computing Also called: pack a collection of punched cards relevant to a particular program
6.	a raised wooden platform built in a garden to provide a seating area
7.	informal clear the decks to prepare for action, as by removing obstacles from a field of activity or combat
8.	informal hit the deck
	a. to fall to the floor or ground, esp in order to avoid injury
	b. to prepare for action
	c. to get out of bed

—vb
9.	(often foll by out) to dress or decorate
10.	to build a deck on (a vessel)
11.	slang to knock (a person) to the floor or ground

[C15: from Middle Dutch dec a covering; related to thatch]

'decker

—n

decking (ˈdɛkɪŋ)

—n
	a wooden deck or platform, esp one in a garden for deckchairs, etc

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

Word Origin & History

deck

mid-15c., probably aphetic of M.L.G. verdeck, a nautical word, from ver- "fore" + decken "to cover, put under roof," from P.Gmc. *thackjam (related to thatch), from PIE *(s)tog-/*(s)teg- "cover" (see stegosaurus). Sense extended early in

English from "covering" to "platform of a ship." "Pack of cards" is 1590s, perhaps because they were stacked like decks of a ship. The verb sense of "knock down" is first recorded c.1953, probably from notion of laying someone out on the deck. Deck chair (1884) so called because they were used on ocean liners. Tape deck (1949) is in ref. to the flat surface of old reel-to-reel tape recorders.

deck

"adorn" (as in deck the halls), c.1500, from M.Du. dekken "to cover," from the same P.Gmc. root as deck (n.). Replaced O.E. þeccan.

Slang Dictionary

deck definition

tv.
to knock someone to the ground. : Fred decked Bob with one blow.
n.
a pack of cigarettes. : Can you toss me a deck of fags, please?

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences

She tucked the picture into the pocket of my pants, which were lying neatly

folded on the decking.

He's built us some amazing decking out of all recycled materials.

Treated maple is also being adopted for decking on yachts.

The guidelines call for grated decking, which allows for more light to transmit

through the water column than normal decking.