duke
Pluraldukes
Pluraldukes
- 1A high rank of nobility, or the man who holds a dukedom.
As a duke, he outranked every earl and marquess at the coronation.
The old duke left his estates and his title to a distant cousin.
UsageAs a title, the Duke of + a place, capitalized: the Duke of Wellington; his wife is a duchess.
- 2A man who rules a duchy or other small independent state as its sovereign.
The duke raised taxes across his duchy to pay for the war.
For centuries the region was governed by its own dukes rather than by a king.
- 3A grand duke, referred to by the shorter title.
- 4To hit or beat someone with the fists.
Instead of talking it through, the two neighbors duked it out on the front lawn while everyone watched.
Two fans started duking it out in the parking lot after the game, and security had to pull them apart.
UsageMost often in duke it out: the two neighbors duked it out on the lawn.
Similarpunch, hit, beat, slug, sock
Note
The verb belongs with dukes, the slang word for fists, so the fighting it names is done with the fists. Today it is heard mostly in the phrase duke it out, which can also describe a fierce contest with no blows, as when rival companies duke it out.
Less common meanings
- 5A fist, especially as used for fighting.
The bartender had fast dukes and a short temper.
When the drunk stepped closer, Frankie put up his dukes and waited.
UsageOften in the phrase put up your dukes, a challenge to fight.
Similarfist
Note
Slang for the fists as weapons, and usually plural: put up your dukes is a challenge to fight, and in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952) a man who knows how to use his dukes knocks a cop down. The origin is thought to be Cockney rhyming slang, with Dukes of York standing for fork.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Put up your dukes challenges someone to a fistfight. en.wiktionary.org
- Ralph Ellison wrote Invisible Man, first published in 1952. read.gov
- In Invisible Man, a man knocks a policeman down; a boy describes his skill with his dukes. filecabinet9.eschoolview.com
- The proposed Cockney rhyming-slang origin connects Dukes of York with fork. en.wiktionary.org
- 6To give someone money in cash, or to give someone a tip.
He duked the parking attendant a twenty to keep the car up front.
Regulars know to duke the bartender early, and their drinks come faster all night.
UsageCan take two objects, with the person first: I duked him twenty dollars. When giving a gratuity, tip is the neutral word.
Similartip
- 7To act as a duke, carrying out a duke's duties, or to rule over a place as its duke.
- 8Any of several Asian butterflies of the family Nymphalidae belonging to the genera Bassarona and Dophla.
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Origin
Latin dux, ducis passed into Old French as duc and then into Middle English as duk, duke. The same Latin word had already given late Old English duc, and the borrowing pushed out the native Old English heretoga. Doge, duc, duce and dux are doublets. The "fist" sense is thought to come from Cockney rhyming slang, in which "Duke(s) of York" stands for fork. Fork in turn is Cockney slang for a hand, hence a fist.