dukes
Britishplural noun
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.
Meanwhile, Abdulmejid and his family lived a glitzy Riviera life, attending dances, we are told, with “four or five kings and any number of princes, dukes and counts.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
He said Myers illness was physically obvious but as soon as the cameras started rolling "he'd have his dukes up, ready for a scrap".
From BBC • Oct. 13, 2024
Prince William, the heir to the throne, will be there along with his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales, and their children, as well as marquesses, dukes, baronesses, lords and earls.
From New York Times • May 5, 2023
Some European families, especially aristocrats with a family connection, went on sending crusaders, such as the dukes of Burgundy who continued to support the crusading movement.
From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023
Born into a life of sumptuous privilege–his grandfathers were dukes, respectively, of Devonshire and Kent–he was the most gifted English scientist of his age, but also the strangest.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
