▪ I. deck, n.1
(dɛk)
Also 5 dekke, 6–7 decke.
[In sense 1, app. of Flemish or LG. origin.
In sense 1, prob. a. MDu. dec (neuter) roof, covering, cloak, pretext (app. from decke:—OTeut. þakjo{supm}, from same root as deck v.): cf. Kilian ‘decke operimentum, lodix = decksel operimentum, opertorium, tegumen, tegumentum, tegmen, stragulum’; also mod.Du. dek bed-covering, horse-cloth. But in the nautical sense, 2, the word is not known in Du. before 1675–81, when dek (neuter) appears as a synonym of verdek, quoted in the nautical sense in 1640, but recorded by Kilian, 1599, only in the general sense ‘tegumen, velamen’. Thus, deck in the nautical sense, appears to be known in Eng. 160 years earlier than in Dutch. It may be simply a specific application of the general sense ‘covering’, or it may come more immediately from the MDu. sense ‘roof.’]
I. † 1. A covering. Obs.
In quot. 1466 app. some material used for covering; with 1712 cf. Du. dek ‘horse-cloth’.
| 1466 Mann. & Househ. Exp. 348 My mastyr paid to John Felawe, for xij. yerdes of dekke for the spynas, iijs. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) I. 38 Do on your Decke, Slut,..I mean your Copyntanke. 1712 Lond. Gaz. No. 4997/4 A red Saddle with 2 Ovals in the Skirt, and the under Decks edg'd with blue. |
2. a. Naut. A platform extending from side to side of a ship or part of a ship, covering in the space below, and also itself serving as a floor; formed of planks, or (in iron ships) of iron plating usually covered with planks.
The primary notion was ‘covering’ or ‘roof’ rather than ‘floor’: see
quots. 1550 and 1624, and
cf. 1466 in sense 1, where the ‘dekke for the spynas’ or pinnace, may have been a covering of canvas, tarpaulin, or the like. In early craft there was a deck only at the stern, so that 16th c. writers sometimes use
deck as equivalent to
poop. In Elyot (1538), whence in Cooper, Huloet, and Baret,
deck is erroneously made the equivalent of
prora, instead of
puppis.
| 1513 Echyngham to Wolsey 5 May (MS. Cott. Calig. D. vi. lf. 110), And bycause I hade no Rayles upon my dek I coyled a cable rounde a [boute the] dek brest hye and likwise in the waste. 1531 C. Morres Inv. Great Bark (Cott. MS. App. xxviii), In primis, the shype with oon over⁓lop. Item, a somer castell & a cloos tymber deck made from the mast forward whyche was made of laet. Item aboue the somer castel A deck from the mayne mast aftward. 1550 Nicolls Thucyd. (tr. Seyssel's Fr. version of Valla's Lat.) 191 They couered the former parte, and the mooste parte of their deckes [Fr. la plus part du couvert de leurs navires] w{supt} copper [F cuir, leather]. c 1585 ? J. Polmon Famous Battles 192 (Seafight at Cape of Orso, 1528) Philippino..levelling the first shotte of his Basilisco, with piercing the Emperiall Admirall, passed from the stemme to the decke, slaying thirtie men. Ibid. 193 The Moore hitting the decke, strake off the rudder. Ibid. 320 (Battle of Lepanto) The decke of this galley..chequered and wroughte marvellous fayre with diuers colours and hystories..ingraued and wrought in golde. 1587 W. Bourne Arte of Shooting 59 It is very evil for to have the Orlop or Deck too low under the port. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 197 Now on the Beake, Now in the Waste, the Decke, in euery Cabyn. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia iii. 63 In a broad Bay, out of danger of their shot..we vntyed our Targets that couered vs as a Deck. 1692 Delaval in Lond. Gaz. No. 2769/3, 15 Capital Ships, 10 whereof are of 3 Decks. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton ii. (1840) 36 A boat with a deck and a sail. 1840 R. Dana Bef. the Mast xxxiii. 125 The captain walked the deck at a rapid stride. |
b. With qualifying words.
The largest ships of the line had
main-deck,
middle deck and
lower deck deck; also the
upper deck or
spar-deck, extending from stem to stern over the main-deck, and the
orlop deck (which carried no guns) below the lower deck; they had also a
poop-deck, or short deck in the after part of the ship above the spar-deck, and sometimes a
forecastle deck, or similar short deck in the fore-part of the ship, sometimes retained in merchant ships and called the
top-gallant forecastle. See also
half-deck, hurricane-deck,
quarter-deck, etc.
| 1598 Florio Dict. To Reader 9, I was but one to sit at sterne, to pricke my carde, to watch vpon the vpper decke. c 1620 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 12, I see a man that's in the lower deck. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 6 A Flush Decke is when from stem to sterne, it lies upon a right line fore and aft. 1637 Heywood Royal Ship 45 She hath three flush Deckes, and a Fore-Castle, an halfe Decke, a quarter Decke, and a round-house. a 1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. 346/1 They make close the Forecastle and Half-Deck. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xii, Easthupp would constantly accost him familiarly on the forecastle and lower deck. Ibid. xiii, He then proceeded to the quarter-deck. Ibid. xxvi, To comply with the captain's orders on the main deck. |
c. In phrases, as
above deck (also
fig.),
between-decks,
on deck,
under deck(s;
to clear, sweep the decks (see
clear v.,
sweep v.).
on deck fig. (
orig. U.S.): at hand; ready for action; alive; in
Baseball, next at the bat, with the right or privilege of batting next.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. i. 94 F. Ile be sure to keepe him aboue decke. P. So will I: if hee come vnder my hatches, Ile neuer to Sea againe. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. vi. (1843) 297/2 Committed to prison on board the ships..where they were kept under decks. 1659 D. Pell Impr. of Sea 419 Now hang the lighted Lanthorns betwixt decks and in the Hold. a 1679 W. Gurnall in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. lxv. 3 Poor Christian, who thinkest that thou shalt never get above deck. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton xi. (1840) 194 The rest ran..down between decks. 1857 R. Tomes Amer. in Japan iv. 110 [He] left the banquet to be discussed by his officers and men, who..soon cleared the decks. 1867 Ball Players' Chron. 26 Sept. 5/4 Well, I went on deck and took up a bat. 1889 ‘Mark Twain’ Yankee xxii. 274 Angels..are always on deck when there is a miracle to the fore. 1889 Lisbon (Dakota) Star 26 Apr. 4/2 A. H. Moore..was kicked by a horse, a cow and a colt.., but is still on deck. 1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1968) xix. 346, I couldn't bring it [sc. oakum] up here if Jame was on deck. She'd be down on me like a ton of lead. 1950 Here & Now (N.Z.) Dec. 12/1 If I am on deck when that time comes you will have a strong advocate for reinstatement in the service. 1966 Times 28 Feb. (Canada Suppl.) p. x/4 Dice games and three-card monte are not, so to speak, on deck but bingo flourishes. |
3. a. Mining. (See
quot.)
| 1888 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. (ed. 3) 31 Deck, the platform of a cage upon which the tubs stand when being drawn up or lowered down the pit. |
b. By extension, any kind of floor or platform, as the floor of a pier or landing-stage, or the platform or roadway of a deck-bridge (see also
quot. 1938).
| 1872 Porcupine XIV. 314/2 The decks of the three stages being swept pretty clear, by the devastating fire of the enemy. 1876 Ibid. XVIII. 330/1 Its deck is fairly rotting away. 1883 Specif. Alnwick & Cornhill Rlwy. 45 The girders are connected by a wrought-iron deck. 1910 A. Williams Engin. Wonders of World III. 282 The old suspension truss, which could then be removed piece by piece to make room for the upper deck. 1938 L. M. Harrod Librarians' Gloss. 56 Deck, one floor of a stack room containing the bookshelves, lifts, and workrooms. (American.) 1955 Times 9 May 18/2 Multi-deck car parks with direct access to the stores. 1961 Daily Tel. 19 Jan. 13/2 Other upper level walkways..include those on a ‘deck’ on the London Pavilion site. 1970 Times 9 Feb. 13/3 A service area and parking deck for 650 vehicles on the second floor. |
c. Aeronaut. A main aeroplane surface,
esp. of a biplane or multiplane; a wing.
| 1843 G. Cayley in Mech. Mag. XXXVIII. 275/1 Would it not be more likely to answer the purpose to compact it into the form of a three decker, each deck being 8 to 10 ft. from the other, to give free room for the passage of air between them? 1910 A. Williams Engin. Wonders of World III. 7/2 The biplane, with two ‘decks’ set one above the other. 1929 Papers Mich. Acad. Sci. & Arts X. 287 Decks, the wings of an airplane. |
d. The floor of an omnibus or tramcar;
top deck or
upper deck, the upper floor or compartment of a double-decked vehicle.
| 1869 [implied in double-decked a.]. 1906 Daily Chron. 11 Sept. 7/1 The cars..have no upper deck, and carry only thirty-six passengers, as compared with accommodation for sixty-six in and on the double-deck pattern. 1966 P. Moloney Plea for Mersey 33 The best place to hear examples of all these quaint circumlocutions is the top deck of Liverpool's buses. 1968 Listener 26 Dec. 855/2 Two American soldiers sat on the lower deck of a bus smoking cigars. |
e. Aeronaut. slang. The ground;
spec. the landing-ground of an aerodrome.
| 1925 Punch 11 Nov. 521 R.A.F. Officer (unhorsed). Oh, he just stalled on top of the loop, did a roll and left me hangin' on the straps; then spun into the deck. 1941 War Illustr. 29 Aug. 93/1, I didn't see the bombs drop, but Mac, the rear-gunner, yelled over the inter-comm in a broad Scots accent—‘There's one on the deck.’ 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose vii. 276 She spun her Moth into the deck. |
f. The surface of a tape recorder above which the tape moves, together with its attachments such as the motor(s) and other mechanisms, the magnetic heads, and the circuits immediately associated with them, the whole being built as a single unit; any device for moving tape from one spool to another past magnetic heads; more fully as
tape deck. Also, the corresponding part of a system for playing gramophone records.
| 1949 Electronic Engin. XXI. 149/3 At present the ‘Tapedeck’ recorder is available to manufacturers only who will fit the recorder into their own amplifying equipment. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 249 Professional tape decks and some domestic decks have two further motors for the feed and take up spools. 1964 F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers iv. 67 Tape does not run continuously, but as required by the computer. It is mounted on what is called a Tape Deck. a 1965 Manual of ‘Ferrograph’ Series 6 (Model 631) 4 The instrument resolves itself into three main units:—A. The mechanical deck carrying the motors, heads, reels, etc. B. The power unit and oscillator. C. The amplifier chassis containing the amplifier, monitor meter, etc. Ibid. 27 The mechanical unit is situated entirely on the hinged deck of the instrument. 1971 Observer (Colour Suppl.) 28 Feb. 33/2 (Advt.), The Garrard range..means you can tailor a deck to suit your needs... Perfect sound and record care for years. |
4. In
U.S. ‘A passenger-car roof, particularly the clear-story roof’ (
Standard Dict.).
II. 5. a. ‘A pack of cards piled regularly on each other’ (J.); also the portion of the pack left, in some games, after the hands have been dealt. Since 17th c.
dial. and in
U.S.| 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. i. 44 But whiles he thought to steale the single Ten, The King was slyly finger'd from the Deck. 1594 ? Greene Selimus Wks. 1881–3 XIV. 251 If I chance but once to get the decke, To deale about and shuffle as I would. 1594 Barnfield Sheph. Cont. viii, Pride deales the Deck whilst Chance doth choose the Card. 1609 R. Armin Two Maids Moreclacke (N.), I'll deal the cards, and cut you from the deck. 16.. Grew (J.), The Selenites, of parallel plates, as in a deck of cards. 1777 Brand Pop. Antiq. (1849) II. 449 In some parts of the North of England a pack of cards is called to this day..a deck of cards. 1860 in Bartlett Dict. Amer. 1882 B. Harte Gentl. La Porte in Flip, etc. 135, I reckon the other fifty-one of the deck ez as pooty. 1884 Chesh. Gloss., Deck o' cards, a pack of cards. 1885 Century Mag. XXIX. 548/1 An old ratty deck of cards. |
b. A packet of narcotics; a small portion of some drug wrapped in paper.
U.S. slang.| 1922 E. F. Murphy Black Candle (1926) i. v. 52 Small paper packages [of cocaine]..are called ‘decks’, and contain about a couple of sniffs. 1927 Flynn's 9 July 462/2 At night it was ‘snow’ that went over the counter..to poor devils who left behind them three dollars..for a deck. 1949 ‘J. Evans’ Halo in Brass (1951) iv. 29 A deck of nose candy for sale to the right guy. 1966 C. Himes Heat's On iii. 27 When it's analysed, they'll find five or six half-chewed decks of heroin. |
† 6. a. A pile of things laid flat upon each other.
| 1625 F. Markham Bk. Hon. ii. vi. §5 Any whose Pedigree lyes so deepe in the decke, that few or none will labour to find it. 1631 Celestina xix. 185 Subtill words, whereof such as shee are never to seeke, but have them still ready in the deck. 1634 Sanderson Serm. II. 287 So long as these things should hang upon the file, or lie in the deck, he might perhaps be safe. 1673 Marvell Reh. Transp. II. 394 A certain Declaration..which you have kept in deck until this season. |
b. Part of a newspaper, periodical, etc., headline containing more than one line of type,
esp. the part printed beneath the main headline. Also
attrib.| 1935 H. Straumann Newspaper Headlines i. 28 These are first decks (and streamers) only. Ibid. iii. 87 The first three lines or ‘decks’ as they would be called in present-day journalism. 1965 L. H. Whitten Progeny of Adder (1966) 127 The eight-column headline told him of Pantelein's body being found. But it was the ‘deck’ headline that held him: county coroner cites ‘vampirism’. |
† 7. Of a cannon: see
quot. Obs.| 1672 W. T. Compleat Gunner i. iv. 5 The Pumel or Button at her Coyl or Britch-end is called the Casacabel or Deck. |
III. attrib. and
Comb. (from sense 2), as
deck-cabin,
deck-cleat,
deck-cricket,
deck-flat,
deck-framing,
deck-game,
deck-officer,
deck-passage,
deck-passenger,
deck-plank,
deck-pump,
deck-scrubber,
deck-seat,
deck-stool,
deck-stringer,
deck-swabber,
deck-transom,
deck-trumpet,
deck-watch; also,
deck-beam, one of the strong transverse beams supporting the deck of a ship;
deck-boy, a boy employed on the deck of a vessel;
deck-bridge, (
a) a narrow platform above and across the deck of a steamer amidships;
= bridge n.1 5; (
b) a bridge in which the roadway is laid on the top of the truss (
opp. to a
through bridge);
deck-cargo = deck-load;
deck class, a grade of accommodation entitling a person to deck-space only on board a ship;
deck-collar (
U.S.), the iron collar or ring through which the stove-pipe passes in the roof of a railway carriage;
cf. deck-plate;
deck-feather (see
quot.);
deck-flats (see
flat n.);
deck-hand, a ‘hand’ or workman employed on the deck of a vessel;
deck-head, a name for the slipper limpet (
Crepidula);
deck-hook, ‘the compass timber bolted horizontally athwart a ship's bow, connecting the stem, timber, and deck-planks of the fore-part; it is part and parcel of the
breast-hooks’ (Smyth
Sailor's Word-bk.);
deck-house, a ‘house’ or room erected on the deck of a ship;
deck-lander, an aeroplane designed to be able to land on a ship's deck;
deck-light, a thick glass let into a deck to light a cabin below;
deck-load n., hence
deck-load v., to load with a cargo upon the deck; also
fig.;
deck-nail, ‘a kind of spike with a snug head, commonly made in a diamond form’ (Smyth);
deck-pipe, ‘an iron pipe through which the chain cable is paid into the chain-locker’ (Smyth);
deck-plate (see
quot.);
deck-pot, a pot used on whaling vessels to receive the scraps;
deck quoits, a game played, chiefly on board ships, by throwing a rope quoit over a peg;
deck-sheet, ‘that sheet of a studding-sail which leads directly to the deck, by which it is steadied until set’ (Smyth);
deck-stopper, ‘a strong stopper used for securing the cable forward of the capstan or windlass while it is overhauled; also abaft the windlass or bitts to prevent more cable from running out’ (Smyth);
deck-tackle, a tackle led along the deck, for hauling in cable, etc.;
deck tennis, a game played
esp. on the deck of a ship by tossing a ring or quoit of rubber, rope, etc., back and forth over a net.
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Deck-beams. 1876 Davis Pol. Exp. i. 29 New deck-beams of increased size were put in. |
| 1900 Westm. Gaz. 22 Mar. 5/2 Prisoner said he was *deck-boy on board the Carisbrook Castle. 1908 Ibid. 28 Aug. 12/1 The owner..sent his son, the deck-boy, down to the engineer. |
| 1902 Ibid. 28 July 2/1 He..writes pictured post-cards at the *deck-cabin table. |
| 1861 Chambers' Encycl. s.v. Cargo, The term *deck-cargo is given to the commodities on the deck of a ship, which are not usually included in the policy of insurance. |
| 1953 A. Smith Blind White Fish ii. 32 The second and third classes were more cosmopolitan;..all three could look down with equal disdain upon the *deck class. Ibid., The deck class passengers began to look around for sheltered niches in which to spend the night. 1969 J. H. Vance Deadly Isles (1970) iii. 23 If he was lucky he might still find a berth available. If not, he'd go deck class, like the Polynesians. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Deck-cleats, pieces of wood temporarily nailed to the deck to secure objects in bad weather. |
| 1891 Scribner's Mag. X. 278 *Deck cricket, quoits, and cock-fighting enliven the forenoons. |
| 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 7/1 *Deck feathers, the two centre tail-feathers. |
| 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 60/1 Wood ships with wood beams have their *deck-flats formed by planking laid upon and fastened to the beams. |
| 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 396/1 Everything else, including the *deck-framing and deck is of the same kind of material as those used in a regular battleship. |
| 1896 S. A. Barnett Let. Sept. in H. Barnett Canon Barnett (1918) II. xxxvii. 118 Of course there are the *deck games. 1971 ‘A. Garve’ Late Bill Smith ii. 45 There was..little provision for deck games. |
| 1844 Knickerbocker XXIII. 88 On board of one of the steam-boats on the Mississippi, I encountered a *deck-hand, who went by the name of Barney. 1885 Gen. Grant Pers. Mem. xxi. I. 288 From captain down to deck-hand. |
| 1881 Scribner's Mag. XXII. 656/1 Beds of jingles or amber-shells..*deck heads..limpets, and other rock-loving mollusks. |
| c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 101 The breast-hooks that receive the ends of the deck-planks are also called *Deck-Hooks. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. x. 106 Ohlsen and Petersen building our *deck-house. |
| 1882 Daily News 24 May 1/1 Good accommodation is..provided for second-class passengers in a commodious deck-house. |
| 1928 Daily Tel. 18 Sept. 11/4 It [sc. the autogiro] should be able to act as a *deck-lander on almost any ship. 1961 E. Brown Wings on my Sleeve viii. 83 The Sea Hornet, a twin-engined deck-lander developed from the Mosquito, followed on the heels of the single-seater Hawker Sea Fury. |
| 1849 N. Kingsley Diary 7 Mar. (1914) 7 Mate arrived today, Mr. Webb, put in *deck lights & scuttle to house on deck. |
| 1757 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1910) XLVI. 273 They hove overboard the *Deck Load of Lumber. 1840 Longfellow in Life (1891) I. 357 Horrible negligence,—a deck-load of cotton! 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Deck-load, timber, casks, or other cargo not liable to damage from wet, stowed on the deck of merchant vessels. |
| 1884 Gladstone in Standard 29 Feb. 2/7 We are determined..not to *deck-load our Franchise Bill. |
| 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 126, 211 *Deck-nails..are proper for fastning of Decks in Ships. |
| 1828 ‘C. Sealsfield’ Americans ix. 105 The great difference of fare between a cabin and a *deck passage..contributes to establish a distinction in this assemblage of people. 1883 ‘Mark Twain’ Life Mississippi vi. 79 He only traveled deck passage because it was cooler! |
| 1824 W. Owen Diary 6 Dec. in Indiana Hist. Publ. (1906) IV. 57 Here the steerage, or as they are called *deck passengers, sit, eat and sleep. 1859 Autobiog. Beggar Boy 114 Among the deck passengers there was a man and his wife with seven children. 1872 E. Eggleston End of World xxviii. 187 He passed through to the place where the steerage or deck passengers are. |
| c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 55 The hawse boxes, or *deck pipe. |
| 1884 E. J. Reed in Contemp. Rev. Nov. 620 The steel decks..being..covered with *deck-plank of teak or of pine. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Deck-plate, a plate around the chimney of a marine-engine furnace to keep the same from contact with the wood of the deck. |
| 1904 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 5 Mar. 23551 The oil flows freely..into the pots, while the refuse..is thrown into another receptacle, called the *deck-pot. |
| 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 1022/2 *Deck quoits. As used on all steamships, and can be played in any sized room or lawn. 1971 ‘A. Garve’ Late Bill Smith ii. 64 The last time I was on a cruise a man died through over-exertion in a deck quoits competition. |
| 1920 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 509/2 He..belaboured them methodically with a *deck-scrubber. |
| c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 56 A ‘double wall’ or *deck stopper-knot. |
| 1874 *Deck stringer [see stringer 5 b]. 1874 Thearle Naval Archit. 102 The deck-stringer plate. |
| 1883 F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius ix, In ten minutes, the parade of *deck⁓swabbers had passed. |
| 1927 Delineator Mar. 9 They played *deck-tennis and shuffleboard. 1932 L. Golding Magnolia St. iii. vi. 530 The deck-tennis court was empty when Bella and Mick wanted to play. 1965 E. Brown Big Man ix. 77 The other passengers..had declined..preferring the Sports Deck and their deck tennis. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Deck-transom, a horizontal timber under a ship's counter. |
| 1838 J. F. Cooper Eve Effingham I. ii. 52 A capital watch..and a *deck-trumpet, in solid silver. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xvii. 201 One of our *deck-watch, who had been cutting ice for the melter. |
▸
deck shoe n. a shoe designed to be worn on the deck of a boat or ship (
usu. in
pl.);
spec. (a) Brit. a flat canvas shoe with a rubber sole, similar to a plimsoll;
(b) N. Amer. a laced shoe with a leather upper and rubber sole,
freq. with a second lace running around the sides and back of the shoe.
| 1879 Times 21 July 14/4 (advt.) *Deck shoes, 12s. 6d. 1960 Holland (Mich.) Evening Sentinel 25 May 5/1 (advt.) Amazing new deck shoe has 360° gripping action. 2000 M. Barrowcliffe Girlfriend 44 xviii. 450, I imagined him..at the county set—the jeans and the deck shoes, the Hackett polo shirts—in a uniform as strict as Mao ever gave the world. |
▪ II. deck, n.2 colloq. (
orig. Anglo-Indian).
(
dɛk)
Also
dekh.
[ad. Hind. dekha sight, dekhnā to see, look at.] A look, peep.
Cf. dekko.
| 1853 ‘Punjabee’ Oakfield iv. 85 Some officer, stopping, as he passed by..‘just to have a dekh at the steamer’. 1886 Yule & Burnell Hobson-Jobson, Deck. 1951 E. Milne in J. Marriott Best One-Act Plays of 1950–51 (1952) 99 Crickey, have a deck at Ronald Colman! |
▪ III. deck, v. (
dɛk)
Also 5–7
decke, 6
dek,
dekke.
[Not known before 16th c.: app. then of recent adoption from Flem. or Low Ger.; cf. Du. dekken, MDu. deken, decken to cover. The latter is = MLG., MHG. decken, OHG. dachjan, decchan:—OTeut. þakjan (whence ON. þekja, OFris. thekka, OE. þeccan to cover, roof over) a derivative verb from an ablaut-stem þek-, þak-, Indog. teg- to cover, whence ON. þak, OHG. dah, Ger. dach covering, roof, OE. þæc, thatch. In branch II a derivative of deck n.1: cf. to roof, floor, etc.] I. † 1. trans. To cover;
esp. to cover with garments, clothe.
Obs.| 1513 Douglas æneis x. xiii. 106 Ene, That..hys sovir targe erekkit, And thar vndre hym haldis closly dekkyt. Ibid. xi. v. 92 Queyn Amatha..Dekkis and defendis hym with wordis sle. 1515 Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) C iij/1 This lusty Codrus was cloked for the rayne And doble decked with huddes one or twayne. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 759 Decke your hofte. 1535 Coverdale Haggai i. 6 Ye decke [1611 clothe] youre selues, but ye are not warme. 1594 Carew Tasso (1881) 91 No place is vnder sky so closely deckt, Which gold not opes. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme iii. xviii. 461 Take away the barke..and after inuest and decke vp therewith some shoote that is of the like thickenes with the graft. |
2. a. To clothe in rich or ornamental garments; to cover with what beautifies; to array, attire, adorn.
| 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) lxvii, Then is he decked as poet laureate. 1535 Coverdale 2 Kings ix. 30 She coloured hir face, and decked hir heade. ― Ps. ciii. 2 Thou deckest thyself with light as it were with a garment. 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. i. 268, I thought thy Bride-bed to haue deckt (sweet Maid), And not t' haue strew'd thy Graue. 1628 Prynne Love-lockes 35 Much lesse, may we Curle, Die, or ouer-curiously decke our Haire. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Jordan i, Curling with metaphors a plain intention, Decking the sense. 1808 Scott Marm. i. xxvii, The scallop shell his cap did deck. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 63 Daisies deck the green. 1885 Manch. Exam. 9 July 4/7 The shipping..was profusely decked with flags. |
b. with
out,
† up.
| 1587 Harrison England ii. vii. (1877) i. 169 In decking up of the body. 1640 Sir R. Baker in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. cxvi. 11–15 To serve for a jewel in the decking up of God's cabinet. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman v. (1841) I. 34 Decked out with long wigs and swords. 1882 B. D. W. Ramsay Recoll. Mil. Serv. II. xv. 64 Every vessel being gaily decked out with flags. |
† 3. To array, fit out, equip.
Obs.| ? 15.. Agincourt 90 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 97 The wastes decked with serpentynes stronge, Saynt Georges stremers sprede ouer hede. 1548 Hall Chron. an. 25 Hen. VIII (1809) 798 The kyng..decked and vitailed dyuers shippes of warre and sent them to the North seas to defende his subiectes. |
II. 4. Naut. To cover as with a deck; to furnish with a deck;
to deck in,
deck over, to cover in with the deck, in ship-building.
| 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia v. 175 At last it was concluded, to decke their long boat with their ship hatches. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. 6 Flat Boats..tho' small, yet so close Deck't, that in a rough Sea they will go quite under the waves and retain no water. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 256 The five-men-boat is decked at each end, but open in the middle. 1874 J. Deady in Law Times Rep. XXXI. 231/2 The vessel..was..decked over, fore and aft. 1893 R. Kipling Many Invent. 121 Your ship has been built and designed, closed and decked in. |
5. Mining. To load or unload (the tubs upon the cage). (See
deck n.1 3.) Chiefly
U.S.| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 76 Decking, the operation of changing the tubs on a cage at top and bottom of a shaft. |
6. In
Lumbering: to pile
up (logs) on a skidway.
U.S.| 1901 Munsey's Mag. XXV. 392/1 Other men pile—technically, ‘deck’—them [sc. logs] exactly as in the woods. 1905 Terms Forestry & Logging 35 Deck up. |
Add:
[III.] 7. To knock (someone) to the ground,
esp. with a punch; to floor.
slang (
orig. U.S.).
| 1953 Sat. Even. Post 4 Apr. 118/4 They might wheel and deck me. 1968 Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News 18 Nov. 5/2 Starr gave way to Zeke Bratkowski early in the third quarter after being decked on an 11-yard scramble. 1970 Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 16/1 Before the..flight in Toronto, Jimmy Ellis decked him. 1977 O. Schell China (1978) iii. 267 After the robbery, I get decked by an incensed worker, who has been reborn in a whirlwind of anti-inflationist righteous wrath. 1985 G. V. Higgins Penance for Jerry Kennedy xxiv. 194 Janet got you riled enough so that you decided to deck Janet. Janet called the cops. |