dock

views updated May 14 2018

dock1 / däk/ • n. a structure extending alongshore or out from the shore into a body of water, to which boats may be moored: the gangplank was lowered to the dock. ∎  an enclosed area of water in a port for the loading, unloading, and repair of ships. ∎  (docks) a group of such enclosed areas of water along with the wharves and buildings near them. ∎ short for dry dock. ∎  (also loading dock) a platform for loading or unloading trucks or freight trains.• v. [intr.] (of a ship) tie up at a dock, esp. in order to load or unload passengers or cargo: the ship docked at San Francisco. ∎  [tr.] bring (a ship or boat) into such a place: the riverbank where the fur traders docked their boats. ∎  (of a spacecraft) join with a space station or another spacecraft in space. ∎  attach (a piece of equipment) to another: the user wants to dock a portable into a desktop computer.dock2 • v. [tr.] (usu. be docked) deduct (something, esp. an amount of money): their wages are docked for public displays of affection | he will be docked an hour's pay. ∎  cut short (an animal's tail): fifteen of the dogs had had their tails docked. ∎  cut short the tail of (an animal): the dog had been docked.• n. the solid bony or fleshy part of an animal's tail, excluding the hair. ∎  the stump left after a tail has been docked.dock3 • n. (usu. the dock) the enclosure in a criminal court where a defendant is placed.PHRASES: in the dock (of a defendant) on trial in court.dock4 • n. a coarse weed (genus Rumex, family Polygonaceae) of temperate regions, with inconspicuous greenish or reddish flowers. The leaves are popularly used to relieve nettle stings.

dock

views updated Jun 11 2018

dock 2 solid fleshy part of a horse's tail; crupper XIV; cut end. stump XVI. perh. identical with OE. -docca (or-e) in fingerdoccan finger-muscles, and corr. to Fris. dok bunch. ball (of twine, etc.), (M)LG. docke bundle of straw. OHG. tocka (south G. docke) doll; the meanings point to a basic sense ‘something round’.
Hence as vb. cut short, curtail. XIV.

dock

views updated May 09 2018

dock Any of more than 200 species of flowering plants native to n USA and Europe. Curled dock (Rumex crispus) has scaly brown flowers and oblong leaves with curly margins. Dock leaves are a country remedy for nettle stings. Family Polygonaceae.

dock

views updated Jun 08 2018

dock 3 †bed or hollow in which a ship rests at low water; artificial basin for the reception of ships. XVI. — MLG., MDu. docke (mod. dok), of unkn. orig.
Hence dock vb. XVI. docker dweller near docks XVIII; dock labourer XIX.

Dock

views updated May 29 2018

DOCK

To curtail or diminish, as, for example, to dock a person's wages for lateness or poor work. The cage or enclosed space in a criminal court where prisoners stand when brought in for trial.

dock

views updated May 29 2018

dock 4 prisoner's enclosure in a criminal court. XVI. prob. rogues' cant and identical with the word repr. by Flemish dok cage, pen, hutch, of unkn. orig.

dock

views updated Jun 11 2018

dock 1 coarse weed of genus Rumex. OE. docce, corr. to MDu. docke, of unkn. orig.