dock

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English dok, Old English -docca, in fingirdoccana (genitive plural) finger muscles; cognate with Frisian dok, Low German docke bundle, Icelandic dokkur stumpy tail, Middle High German tocke bundle, sheaf

noun

the place in a courtroom where a prisoner is placed during trial.

Idioms

in the dock, being tried in a court, especially a criminal court; on trial.

Origin:
1580–90; perhaps < Dutch dok (dial. sense) cage, poultry pen, rabbit hutch

noun

any of various weedy plants belonging to the genus Rumex, of the buckwheat family, as R. obtusifolius (bitter dock) or R. acetosa (sour dock) having long taproots.

any of various other plants, mostly coarse weeds.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English dokke, Old English docce; cognate with Middle Dutch docke, Middle High German tocke

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World English Dictionary

dock¹ (dɒk)

—n
1.	a wharf or pier
2.	a space between two wharves or piers for the mooring of ships
3.	an area of water that can accommodate a ship and can be closed off to allow regulation of the water level
4.	short for dry dock
5.	short for scene dock
6.	chiefly (US), (Canadian) a platform from which lorries, goods trains, etc, are loaded and unloaded

—vb
7.	to moor (a vessel) at a dock or (of a vessel) to be moored at a dock
8.	to put (a vessel) into a dry dock for repairs or (of a vessel) to come into a dry dock
9.	(of two spacecraft) to link together in space or link together (two spacecraft) in space

[C14: from Middle Dutch docke; perhaps related to Latin ducere to lead]

dock² (dɒk)

—n
1.	the bony part of the tail of an animal, esp a dog or sheep
2.	the part of an animal's tail left after the major part of it has been cut off

—vb
3.	to remove (the tail or part of the tail) of (an animal) by cutting through the bone: to dock a tail; to dock a horse
4.	to deduct (an amount) from (a person's wages, pension, etc): they docked a third of his wages

[C14: dok, of uncertain origin]

dock³ (dɒk)

—n
	an enclosed space in a court of law where the accused sits or stands during his trial

[C16: from Flemish dok sty]

dock⁴ (dɒk)

—n
1.	any of various temperate weedy plants of the polygonaceous genus Rumex, having greenish or reddish flowers and typically broad leaves
2.	any of several similar or related plants

[Old English docce; related to Middle Dutch, Old Danish docke, Gaelic dogha]

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

dock

"ship's berth," late 15c., from M.Du. or M.L.G. docke, perhaps ultimately (via L.L. *ductia "aqueduct") from L. ducere "to lead" (see duke); or possibly from a Scand. word for "low ground" (cf. Norw. dokk "hollow, low ground"). Original sense was "furrow a grounded vessel makes

in a mud bank." Related: Docked; docking.

dock

"where accused stands in court," 1586, originally rogue's slang, from Flem. dok "pen or cage for animals," origin unknown.

dock

"cut an animal's tail," late 14c., from dok (n.) "fleshy part of an animal's tail," related to O.E. -docca "muscle," from P.Gmc. *dokko "something round, bundle" (cf. O.N. dokka "bundle, girl," Dan. dukke "doll," Ger. Docke "small column, bundle, doll, smart girl"). Meaning "to reduce (someone's) pay

for some infraction" is first recorded 1822. Related: Docked; docking.

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

dock

see in the dock.