tucker
noun
a person or thing that tucks.
tucker
1 American
[tuhk-er]
/ ˈtʌk ər /
tucker
2
American
[tuhk-er]
/ ˈtʌk ər /
verb (used with object)
Informal.
-
tuckers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tuckered,
past participle, past
-
tuckering
present participle
Tucker
3
American
[tuhk-er]
/ ˈtʌk ər /
noun
-
Richard, 1915–75, U.S. operatic tenor.
-
Sophie Sophie Abruza, 1884–1966, U.S. singer and entertainer, born in Russia.
tucker
1
British
/ ˈtʌkə /
noun
-
a person or thing that tucks
-
a detachable yoke of lace, linen, etc, often white, worn over the breast, as of a low-cut dress
-
an attachment on a sewing machine used for making tucks at regular intervals
-
old-fashioned an informal word for food
tucker
2
British
/ ˈtʌkə /
verb
tucker
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tuckersimple
-
tuckerssimple
-
have tuckeredperfect
-
has tuckeredperfect
-
am tuckeringprogressive
-
are tuckeringprogressive
-
is tuckeringprogressive
-
have been tuckeringperfect progressive
-
has been tuckeringperfect progressive
Past
-
tuckeredsimple
-
had tuckeredperfect
-
was tuckeringprogressive
-
were tuckeringprogressive
-
had been tuckeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tucker1
First recorded in 1225–75, tucker is from the Middle English word tokere. See tuck 1, -er 1
Origin of tucker2
Explanation
As a noun, a tucker is either someone who sews tiny pleats in fabric or an old-fashioned fabric insert in the neck of a dress. As an informal verb, tucker means "exhaust or tire." If you're a tucker, you're a sewer or a stitcher. And if you wear an antique dress, it may have a tucker made of lace or linen that's sewn into its neckline. These days, you're more likely to hear tucker used as a verb. A long day at the zoo may tucker out your four-year-old cousin. Experts believe that this New England slang might stem from tucker, an informal verb used to mean "exhaust a dog."
Vocabulary lists containing tucker
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.
See Examples For:
I will take my French mastiff Rosie for a hike at Fryman Canyon to tucker her out for the day and also just feel like I moved on a Sunday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2025
"Goannas are significant cultural totems for Traditional Owners across northern Australia, and an important bush tucker food," Dr Ward-Fear says.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 9, 2024
The duchess joked that she thought she was "in trouble" and that they were going to make her do one of their "tucker trials."
From Fox News ● Oct. 19, 2021
“We’ve always shot bush tucker to eat. That’s one thing I like about ’roo shooting.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2021
“Gods, I’m exhausted. There’s nothing like the certain knowledge of your own death to tucker you out.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Mr. Trump was talking to Tucker Carlson by phone in the weeks before the Iran war commenced.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Today’s newsletter was curated and edited by Liz Webber and Will Horner in collaboration with Editor in Chief Emma Tucker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Kyle Tucker and Shohei Ohtani both drew walks, as the Dodgers’ only baserunners before the sixth — and Ohtani was thrown out attempting to steal second to end the third inning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Today’s newsletter was curated and edited by Leigh Kamping-Carder and Will Horner in collaboration with Editor in Chief Emma Tucker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Tucker huffed and went back to building his armies.
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
In their best bibs and tuckers, Hollywood's finest lined up with Britain's luvvie elite to tussle over, to quote Billy Connolly, "a death mask on a stick".
From The Guardian ● Feb. 14, 2013
Gonzalez Videla's old ambassadorial friend from Vichy, Admiral William D. Leahy, the vice presidents from Argentina, Peru and Brazil all turned up in their best bibs & tuckers.
From Time Magazine Archive
Maggie was frowning, and twisting her shoulders, that she might, if possible, shrink away from the prickliest of tuckers; while her mother was saying, "Don't, Maggie, my dear—don't look so ugly!"
From Tom and Maggie Tulliver by George Eliot
Wait till afternoon; they'll be expectin' you then and they'll be rigged out in their best bibs and tuckers.
From Keziah Coffin by Joseph Crosby Lincoln
He smiled impartially from their various tuckers; and, indeed, many of the youthful possessors of those little gilt lockets are true to this day to their early impressions.
From Old Kensington by Miss Thackeray
Labs are happiest in an active household, but when they’re tuckered out, prepare yourself for a cuddle fest — and to be amazed at how much space one dog can take up in your bed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2025
Other than everybody just getting tuckered out — perpetual conflict can be exhausting — the reality is that Sawant has always been more story than substance.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 21, 2023
Are they still tuckered from their brilliance last season?
From Washington Post ● Jun. 25, 2017
Meanwhile, Daenerys Targaryen, the most anime of all Game of Thrones characters, is off who-knows-where with Drogon, who is understandably tuckered out after their great escape.
From The Verge ● Jun. 16, 2015
What if he was slightly tuckered out from the first attempt or from eating several delicious blackberry Snow Delights?
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Presently, however, they slowed down to a "dog trot" at the suggestion of Clifford Long, who warned his fellow Scouts against "tuckering themselves out."
From Campfire Girls in the Allegheny Mountains or, A Christmas Success against Odds by Stella M. Francis
There, in the half-shade, he saw the horse standing, the sunshine and the tuckering shadow of leaves dancing over his brown body.
From The Prussian Officer by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
I wuz most melted too, for St. Louis weather is tuckering to them that can't stand heat.
From Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition by Marietta Holley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
