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• beck
  beck

  noun

  a gesture used to signal, summon, or direct someone.
• Beck
  Beck

  noun

  Dave, 1894–1993, U.S. labor leader: president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters 1952–57.

beck

¹ American  

[bek] / bɛk /

noun

1. a gesture used to signal, summon, or direct someone.

2. Chiefly Scot. a bow or curtsy of greeting.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. Archaic. beckon.

idioms

1. at someone's beck and call, ready to do someone's bidding; subject to someone's slightest wish.

   He has three servants at his beck and call.

beck ² American  

[bek] / bɛk /

noun

North England.

1. a brook, especially a swiftly running stream with steep banks.

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beck ³ American  

[bek] / bɛk /

verb (used with object)

Metalworking.

1. to form (a billet or the like) into a tire or hoop by rolling or hammering on a mandrel or anvil.

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Beck ⁴ American  

[bek] / bɛk /

noun

1. Dave, 1894–1993, U.S. labor leader: president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters 1952–57.

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beck ¹ British  

/ bɛk /

noun

1. a nod, wave, or other gesture or signal

2. ready to obey someone's orders instantly; subject to someone's slightest whim

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beck ² British  

/ bɛk /

noun

1. (in N England) a stream, esp a swiftly flowing one

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beck More Idioms  

1. see at someone's beck and call.

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Etymology

Origin of beck¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb bekken, bec, variant of beckenen, bek(e)nen beckon; noun derivative of the verb

Origin of beck²

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English bek, bec(k), from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse bekkr; akin to Old English bæc, bec, bece, Dutch beek, German Bach “brook”

Origin of beck³

First recorded in 1830–35 as beck-iron; verb use of the noun beck, shortening of beck-iron, a variant of bick-iron

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beck Beck

And as you imply, the new chairman of the Fed will have hundreds of Ph.D.s at his beck and call for whatever studies he may desire.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026

Any renewable company that is a subsidiary of a fossil fuel firm made the list, for instance, because they are "at the beck and call" of their parent group, Galey said.

From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2025

“You can control traffic, you can control lighting. All of the equipment is at your beck and call.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2024

The agency is using three pumps to help move water away from the beck.

From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2023

For a while he chose the covert of a bathroom but now is out on the streets where he remains at my beck and call every minute.”

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Beck even dropped in for a couple of tracks, including the anthemic “Cumbia Beckiana.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

About five years ago, I got a random text from Beck telling me he was two blocks away from my studio.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Jeff Beck was captivated by the sound of American blues artists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

As the chapters accumulate, the reader gains a sense of the Jeff Beck that the authors describe as part genius, part unknowable eccentric.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Indeed, after talking with Beck I even took the time to find a spent oxygen canister that I’d stashed in the snow on the way up some ten hours earlier.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

• current
• flood
• flow
• rush
• spate
• surge
• tide
• torrent
• tributary