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
She has experience of bush tucker trials, having appeared on I'm A Celebrity's spin-off show, Extra Camp, where she was made to eat sheep brains.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2022
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
Kyle Tucker has had a very average season so far, but Dave Roberts and Mookie Betts are convinced Tucker will pull through when the Dodgers need him most.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
But, Tucker said, in recent weeks, tourists have been found picnicking in the site.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Today’s newsletter was curated and edited by Bharbi Hazarika and Cristina Roca in collaboration with Editor in Chief Emma Tucker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Four recent free-agent signings: Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Edwin Díaz and Kyle Tucker have a total annual salary of $130 million not including signing bonuses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
I thought I saw Tucker and headed toward him, but when I made it across the room, he’d vanished.
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
Of course, his faithful subjects' purses Were ready with their aids and succors; Nothing was seen but pensioned Nurses; And the land groaned with bibs and tuckers.
From The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore Collected by Himself with Explanatory Notes by Rossetti, William Michael
Maggie was frowning, and twisting her shoulders, that she might, if possible, shrink away from the prickliest of tuckers; while her mother was saying, "Don't, Maggie, my dear—don't look so ugly!"
From Tom and Maggie Tulliver by Eliot, George
"They've put on their best bibs and tuckers," Corkran mumbled in a stage whisper, as the eight dwellers at our table began to sort themselves for places.
From It Happened in Egypt by Williamson, C. N. (Charles Norris)
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
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
Their group almost included that linebacker of golf, Bryson DeChambeau, who joined seven others at 3-under 67, and whose mighty swings finally subdued his tuckered driver of one year-plus.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 6, 2020
I don’t work nowhere near as hard as Mr. Leroy, but that don’t matter, I was good and tuckered out.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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 Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)
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 Francis, Stella M.
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 Holley, Marietta
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.
