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dukes

British

/ djuːks /

plural noun

slang the fists (esp in the phrase put your dukes up )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

Just two years after “Cruise” debuted, duo Maddie & Tae had heard enough about arm candy and daisy dukes to satirize the subgenre’s views on women with 2015’s “Girl in a Country Song.”

From Salon • May 16, 2025

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

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

He gave me a look like he was going to drop both cartons and put up his dukes.

From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023