dock¹

[dok] /dɒk/

noun

a landing pier.

the space or waterway between two piers or wharves, as for receiving a ship while in port.

such a waterway, enclosed or open, together with the surrounding piers, wharves, etc.

a platform for loading and unloading trucks, railway freight cars, etc.

an airplane hangar or repair shed.

Also called scene dock. a place in a theater near the stage or beneath the floor of the stage for the storage of scenery.

verb (used with object)

to bring (a ship or boat) into a dock; lay up in a dock.

to place in dry dock, as for repairs, cleaning, or painting.

10.

to join (a space vehicle) with another or with a space station in outer space.

verb (used without object)

11.

to come or go into a dock or dry dock.

12.

(of two space vehicles) to join together in outer space.

Origin

1505-15; < Middle Dutch doc(ke)

dock²

[dok] /dɒk/

noun

the solid or fleshy part of an animal's tail, as distinguished from the hair.

the part of a tail left after cutting or clipping.

verb (used with object)

to cut off the end of; cut short:

to dock a tail.

to cut short the tail of:

to dock a horse.

to deduct from the wages of, usually as a punishment:

The boss docked him a day's pay.

to deduct from (wages):

The boss docked his paycheck $20.

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

dock³

[dok] /dɒk/

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

dock⁴

[dok] /dɒk/

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

Examples from the web for dock

Cruise ships dock here regularly, spilling hundreds of tourists onto the main waterfront boulevard.
As he was a best-selling author of the day, the press met him at the dock.
Several former heads of state have also found themselves in the dock on war-crimes charges.
The wall allows deep-hulled ships to dock at the city's edge.
When hormones, neurotransmitters or chemical attractors reach a cell, they dock to and activate a membrane-spanning receptor.
One of the five mechanical cranes has delivered up the bin to a small loading dock.
With the gravity plan, a spacecraft would not have to dock on the asteroid, but instead hover above its surface.
Their mouths are larger than the heads of the people who were standing next to them on the dock.
But getting the cargo to and from the dock was a different story.
We'd get into the dock, when we'd get four or five in there, we'd head for the dock.

British Dictionary definitions for dock

dock¹

/dɒk/

noun

a wharf or pier

a space between two wharves or piers for the mooring of ships

an area of water that can accommodate a ship and can be closed off to allow regulation of the water level

short for dry dock

short for scene dock

(mainly US & Canadian) a platform from which lorries, goods trains, etc, are loaded and unloaded

verb

to moor (a vessel) at a dock or (of a vessel) to be moored at a dock

to put (a vessel) into a dry dock for repairs or (of a vessel) to come into a dry dock

(of two spacecraft) to link together in space or link together (two spacecraft) in space

Word Origin

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

dock²

/dɒk/

noun

the bony part of the tail of an animal, esp a dog or sheep

the part of an animal's tail left after the major part of it has been cut off

verb (transitive)

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

to deduct (an amount) from (a person's wages, pension, etc): they docked a third of his wages

Word Origin

C14: dok, of uncertain origin

dock³

/dɒk/

noun

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

Word Origin

C16: from Flemish dok sty

dock⁴

/dɒk/

noun

any of various temperate weedy plants of the polygonaceous genus Rumex, having greenish or reddish flowers and typically broad leaves

any of several similar or related plants

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for dock

"ship's berth," late 15c., from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German docke, perhaps ultimately (via Late Latin *ductia "aqueduct") from Latin ducere "to lead" (see duke (n.)); or possibly from a Scandinavian word for "low ground" (cf. Norwegian dokk "hollow, low ground"). Original sense perhaps "furrow a grounded vessel makes in a mud bank." As a verb from 1510s. Related: Docked; docking.

"where accused stands in court," 1580s, originally rogue's slang, from Flemish dok "pen or cage for animals," origin unknown.

name for various tall, coarse weeds, Old English docce, from Proto-Germanic *dokkon (cf. Middle Dutch docke-, German Docken-, Old Danish dokka), akin to Middle High German tocke "bundle, tuft," and ultimately to the noun source of dock (v.).

"cut an animal's tail," late 14c., from dok (n.) "fleshy part of an animal's tail" (mid-14c.), related to Old English -docca "muscle," from Proto-Germanic *dokko "something round, bundle" (cf. Old Norse dokka "bundle, girl," Danish dukke "doll," German Docke "small column, bundle, doll, smart girl"). Meaning "to reduce (someone's) pay for some infraction" is first recorded 1822. Related: Docked; docking.

Slang definitions & phrases for dock

dock

verb

To reduce one's pay for some infraction: I'm docking you six bucks for being sassy

[1822+; fr dock, ''to cut off part of the tail,'' fr a Middle English word meaning ''docked tail'']

Idioms and Phrases with dock

dock

see: in the dock