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• becket
  becket

  noun

  a short length of rope for securing spars, coils of rope, etc., having an eye at one end and a thick knot or a toggle at the other, which is passed through the eye.
• Becket
  Becket

  noun

  Saint Thomas à, 1118?–70, archbishop of Canterbury: murdered because of his opposition to Henry II's policies toward the church.

becket

¹ American  

[bek-it] / ˈbɛk ɪt /

noun

Nautical.

1. a short length of rope for securing spars, coils of rope, etc., having an eye at one end and a thick knot or a toggle at the other, which is passed through the eye.

2. a grommet of rope, as one used as a handle or oarlock.

3. a grommet or eye on a block to which the standing end of a fall can be secured.

4. a wooden cleat or hook secured to the shrouds of a sailing vessel to hold tacks and sheets not in use.

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Becket ² American  

[bek-it] / ˈbɛk ɪt /

noun

1. Saint Thomas à, 1118?–70, archbishop of Canterbury: murdered because of his opposition to Henry II's policies toward the church.

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becket ¹ British  

/ ˈbɛkɪt /

noun

1. a clevis forming part of one end of a sheave, used for securing standing lines by means of a thimble

2. a short line with a grommet or eye at one end and a knot at the other, used for securing spars or other gear in place

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Becket ² British  

/ ˈbɛkɪt /

noun

1. Saint Thomas à . 1118–70, English prelate; chancellor (1155–62) to Henry II; archbishop of Canterbury (1162–70): murdered following his opposition to Henry's attempts to control the clergy. Feast day: Dec 29 or July 7

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Etymology

Origin of becket

First recorded in 1760–70; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

becket Becket

They hold the dart between the thumb and the remaining finger, which serve only to give direction, the velocity being communicated by the becket and forefinger.

From Tropic Days by Banfield, E. J. (Edmund James)

A becket should be attached to the end to haul them off by.

From Ordnance Instructions for the United States Navy. 1866. Fourth edition. by United States. Navy Dept. Bureau of Ordnance

They use a becket, in the same manner as at Tanna, in throwing the dart, which, I believe, is much used in striking fish, etc.

From A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World Volume 2 by Cook, James

I put the wheel in the becket and in one jump released the mains’l throat-halyards, while another fellow released the peak.

From The Harbor of Doubt by Gage, George W.

Soap in the becket over top of it.

From The Woman-Haters: a yarn of Eastboro twin-lights by Lincoln, Joseph Crosby

At Becket they say they represent “Anglicans to Zoroastrians.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

Becket thus became a martyr for the idea that you don’t render unto Caesar the things that are God’s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

On our way there, we stopped in Heptonstall, a tiny town above Hebden Bridge, where Sylvia Plath is buried in the St. Thomas A’ Becket churchyard.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

While walking the Becket Way, her group will join prayer services at churches, cathedrals and abbeys, as well as meeting with other pilgrims and visiting schools.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026

He retired just before his end to the priory of St Thomas, near Stafford, which he had founded in 1180 in memory of Thomas à Becket, who had been murdered ten years previously.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See by Clifton, A. B.