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:
Pearce also starts the party late, so the dance party before the rave can tucker kids out before he takes the stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 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
It will include a BBQ with traditional bush tucker and the raising of Australian and Aboriginal flags to welcome new citizens.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 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
“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
That takes right-handed Andy Pages out of the game; the only Dodgers with more hits than Pages this October are Kyle Tucker and Mookie Betts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
In the month of July, Tucker never had a four-game hitting streak.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
If Tucker sparkles in October, no one will remember the regular seasons, and Dodgers fans will remember him fondly forevermore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Today’s newsletter was curated and edited by Morgan Smith and James Leigh in collaboration with Editor in Chief Emma Tucker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Gangly, bespectacled, hair black as an oil slick and always perfectly combed forward, Tucker was a busboy, waiter, and cashier here at Finnegan’s, not to mention the smartest person I’d ever met.
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
So, both in our best bibs and tuckers, and all taut and ready for the sea, as father would have said, we were driven over to the Brindlecombe house, or palace, whichever you call it.
From Galusha the Magnificent by Joseph Crosby Lincoln
What noble candor, to admit that the undutifulness of people, who did not think the honor of adjusting her tuckers worth the sacrifice of their own lives, was, though highly criminal, not altogether unnatural!
From Critical and Historical Essays, Volume III (of 3) by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay
And then their frocks were never torn, Their tuckers always clean; And their hair so very tidy— Always quite fit to be seen.
From Marigold Garden by Kate Greenaway
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
Recently, tuckered out by the demands of being a social-media influencer and hurt by not making headway on her second novel, she just wants a rest.
From New York Times ● Aug. 11, 2022
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge On one day of my testing, the regular iPhone 13 made it from 7am to midnight before it tuckered out.
From The Verge ● Sep. 21, 2021
We were nearly tuckered out from the gala dinner with dancing to follow.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
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
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
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
