Noun (2)
when we were lads, we raced our toy boats in the narrow beck that bordered the lane
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Noun
At the moment, Simon could think of nothing worse than being at the beck and call of an elderly client who thought she was being scammed.—Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2025 Not only does the cast have the power of physical comedy at their beck and call, other aspects on the technical side of things offer up even more giddiness.—David John Chávez, Mercury News, 7 Oct. 2025 Daniel is used to being at the beck and call of hotelier Augusto (Tommaso Ragno) and his general manager daughter, Adele (Maria Chiara Giannetta).—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025 Meanwhile, Google's own AI assistant, Gemini, will be at your beck and call.—Jade Chung-Lee, PC Magazine, 12 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for beck
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English bekken, shortened from bekenen "to give a mute signal," with the n perhaps being taken as the infinitive ending — more at beckon
Noun (1)
Middle English becke, bekke "mute signal, signal of command, bow," noun derivative of bekken "to give a mute signal" — more at beck entry 1
Noun (2)
Middle English bek, from Old Norse bekkr; akin to Old English bæc brook, Old High German bah, Lithuanian bėgti to flee — more at phobia
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