truckle

American  

[truhk-uhl] / ˈtrʌk əl /

noun

1. truckle bed.

2. a pulley.

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verb (used without object)

truckled, truckling

1. to submit or yield obsequiously or tamely (usually followed byto ).

   Don't truckle to unreasonable demands.

   Synonyms:

   kowtow, concede, bow, grovel

truckle ¹ British  

/ ˈtrʌkəl /

noun

1. a small wheel; caster

2. a small barrel-shaped cheese

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verb

1. (intr) to roll on truckles

2. (tr) to push (a piece of furniture) along on truckles

truckle ² British  

/ ˈtrʌkəl /

verb

1. to yield weakly; give in

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Other Word Forms

• truckler noun
• trucklingly adverb
• untruckled adjective
• untruckling adjective

Etymology

Origin of truckle

First recorded in 1375–1425 truckle for def. 2; truckle def. 1 was first recorded in 1630–40; truckle def. 3 in 1665–75; late Middle English noun trocle, trokel “sheave, roller,” from Anglo-French, from Latin trochlea; the verb is a special use of obsolete truckle “to sleep on a truckle bed” (because such beds were stored underneath a standard bed); trochlea

Example Sentences

“It was only where there was this defiance, this refusal to truckle, this distrust of all authority, political or social, that institutions would express human aspirations, not crush them.”

From Seattle Times • Aug. 7, 2020

Now would the assembly truckle to Parliament’s authority?

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

“His paintings make small people large, and large people tiny,” she writes, adding, “he doesn’t truckle to either.”

From New York Times • Apr. 10, 2016

But he shows all the control of a large truckle of cheddar.

From The Guardian • Sep. 17, 2015

He had decided not to truckle with Might any more—to cut it out root and branch, by establishing another standard altogether.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White