tuck
/tʌk/verb, noun
tuck is spelled T-U-C-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, tuck means “To pull or gather up (an item of fabric)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in tuck?
| Letters | 4: T-U-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 13,897th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is tuck?
Tuck appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tuck?
- /tʌk/
- /tʊk/
Tuck has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tuck.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of tuck
- tucks present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- tucking participle, present
- tucked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tuck mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To pull or gather up (an item of fabric).
- 2
To push into a snug position; to place somewhere safe, or handy, or somewhat hidden.
Tuck in your shirt. I tucked in the sheet. He tucked the $10 bill into his shirt pocket.
- 3
To eat; to consume.
- 4
To fit neatly.
The sofa tucks nicely into that corner.
- 5
To curl into a ball; to fold up and hold one's legs.
The diver tucked, flipped, and opened up at the last moment.
- 6
To sew folds; to make a tuck or tucks in.
to tuck a dress
- 7
To full, as cloth.
- 8
Of a drag queen, trans woman, etc., to conceal one's penis and testicles, as with a gaff or by fastening them down with adhesive tape.
Honey, have you tucked today? We don't wanna see anything nasty down there.
noun
- 1
An act of tucking; a pleat or fold.
- 2
A fold in fabric that has been stitched in place from end to end, as to reduce the overall dimension of the fabric piece.
- 3
A curled position.
- 4
A plastic surgery technique to remove excess skin.
tummy tuck
- 5
The act of keeping the thumb in position while moving the rest of the hand over it to continue playing keys that are outside the thumb.
- 6
A curled position, with the shins held towards the body.
- 7
The afterpart of a ship, immediately under the stern or counter, where the ends of the bottom planks are collected and terminate by the tuck-rail.
- 8
IndiaUKdatedFood, especially snack food.
- 9
The beat of a drum.
- 10
archaicA rapier, a sword.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tuck in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rentrer , tucker |
| Spanish | hacer dobladillo , trucarse , resguardar , encajar |
| Portuguese | aquendar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tuck come from?
From Middle English tuken, touken (“to torment, to stretch (cloth)”), from Old English tūcian (“to torment, vex”) and Middle Dutch tucken (“to tuck”), both from Proto-Germanic *teuh-, *teug- (“to draw, pull”) (compare also *tukkōną), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull”). Akin to Old High German zucchen (“to snatch, tug”), zuchôn (“to jerk”), German Low German tuken (“to tug, pluck, grab and pull towards”), Old English tēon (“to draw, pull, train”). Doublet of touch.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).