Noun (2)
when we were lads, we raced our toy boats in the narrow beck that bordered the lane
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Noun
First of all, that's a long flight, and that was my first experience of a lay-flat seat, with the flight attendants at your beck and call.—Kaitlin Menza, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Nov. 2024 Meanwhile, Sylvie texts a suitor under the table, for Sylvie is an icon who has handsome men in every European city at her beck and call.—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 12 Sep. 2024 But Google and Everyday Robots stressed at the time that a roving butler at one’s beck and call remained far from consumer availability.—Paresh Dave, WIRED, 22 Feb. 2023 Besides working the land, cooking for themselves and their overseers, and being at Jenkins' beck and call, historic preservationist Karen Nance explains that the enslaved people also built the Jenkins home, brick by brick.—Doc Louallen, ABC News, 7 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for beck
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English bekken, shortened from bekenen "to give a mute signal," with the n perhaps being taken as the infinitive ending — more at beckon
Noun (1)
Middle English becke, bekke "mute signal, signal of command, bow," noun derivative of bekken "to give a mute signal" — more at beck entry 1
Noun (2)
Middle English bek, from Old Norse bekkr; akin to Old English bæc brook, Old High German bah, Lithuanian bėgti to flee — more at phobia
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