dukes

British

/ djuːks /

plural noun

slang the fists (esp in the phrase put your dukes up )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of dukes

C19: from Duke of Yorks rhyming slang for forks (fingers)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Worcester Plinth is displaying a sculpture by Sarah Dukes titled 'The Gulls' which can currently be seen at the play park on Lansdowne Road.

From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026

Dukes said she wanted people to "embrace all animals and birds" and hoped the fact that the installation was mobile would help spread the importance of art and creativity.

From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026

As we longtime Bruin fans always say: Go Dukes!

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 10, 2026

The latter she built out as “my own Boss Hogg Cadillac” with horns on the hood, an allusion to the “The Dukes of Hazzard,” a late 1970s and early 1980s TV show.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 28, 2025

All the Dukes were involved in the family business in varying degrees, but the real force behind the company was clearly the youngest son, James Buchanan Duke, known to intimates as “Buck.”

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023