dock
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
Hence as vb. cut short, curtail. XIV.
dock
dock
Hence dock vb. XVI. docker dweller near docks XVIII; dock labourer XIX.
Dock
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.