decked

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of deck.

   Volunteers decked the town square with lanterns for the festival.

   The old hall was decked in ivy and holly every winter.

   Note

   One spelling carries every meaning of the verb, and they pull in very different directions. A hall decked with holly has been decorated. In informal speech, someone who has been decked has been knocked to the floor, usually with a single punch. Card players use it for leaving an opponent with nothing to draw. The regular -ed ending serves both the past tense and the participle after have or be.

2. 2
   adjective

   Decorated or adorned, with ornamental details added to make it more striking.

   The decked corridors of the old manor impressed every visitor.

   A lavishly decked altar stood at the front of the chapel.

   Similardecorated, adorned, festooned

   Oppositeplain, bare, unadorned

   Note

   The verb's decorating sense becomes an adjective that can stand before a noun: decked corridors, a decked altar. It compares with more and most rather than -er and -est (more decked, most decked). It often leans on an adverb that says how much, as in a lavishly decked altar. Here it describes the finished look rather than the act recorded by the past-tense verb.

3. 3
   adjectivein compounds

   Built or fitted with a stated number or type of decks.

   Fishermen preferred a decked vessel for working in rough seas.

   The city introduced double-decked trams to ease the crowding.

   Oppositeundecked, open

   Note

   Built on the noun rather than the verb: a decked boat has a deck, not decorations. It mostly appears in combination with a number or type and is hyphenated before a noun, as in double-decked trams or a three-decked ship. Keep it apart from the "adorned" meaning, which shares the spelling. In writing about ships and vehicles, the context nearly always decides which is meant.

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