uncle
Pronunciation
  • enPR: ŭngʹkəl, IPA: /ˈʌŋ.kəl/
  • (America), IPA: /ˈʌŋ.kəl/, [ˈʌŋ.kəɫ], [ˈʌŋ.kɫ̩]
  • (British), IPA: /ˈʌŋ.kəl/, IPA: [ˈɐŋ.kəɫ], [ˈɐŋ.kɫ̩]
Noun

uncle (plural uncles)

  1. The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent.
    • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326 ↗:
      And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs, ascending the stairs two at a time, peeped perfunctorily into the nursery as she passed the hallway—and halted amazed.
  2. (affectionate) The male cousin of one’s parent.
  3. (euphemistic) A companion to one's (usually unmarried) mother.
  4. (figuratively) A source of advice, encouragement, or help.
  5. (British, informal, dated) A pawnbroker.
  6. (especially in the Southern US, parts of UK and Asia) An affectionate term for a man of an older generation than oneself, especially a friend of one's parents, by means of fictive kin.
  7. (Southern US, slang, archaic) An older male African-American person.
    • Plain old uncle as he [Socrates] was, with his great ears, — an immense talker.
Synonyms Antonyms Related terms Translations Translations
  • Portuguese: tio
  • Russian: дя́дя
Translations
  • Russian: ростовщи́к
Translations
  • Portuguese: tio
Translations
  • Portuguese: tio
  • Russian: дя́дя
Interjection
  1. A cry used to indicate surrender.
Verb

uncle (uncles, present participle uncling; past and past participle uncled)

  1. (transitive, colloquial) To address somebody by the term uncle.
  2. (intransitive, colloquial) To act like, or as, an uncle.



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