uncleun‧cle /ˈʌŋkəl/ ●●● S2 W3 noun [countable] 
I went to stay with my uncle and aunt for a few days. Uncle Philip I was very excited about becoming an uncle (=your sister or your brother’s wife has a child).2used by children, in front of a first name, to address or refer to a man who is a close friend of their parents3say uncle American English spoken used by children to tell someone to admit they have been defeated
WORD ORIGINuncle
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French, Latin avunculus ‘mother's brother’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Uncle Roscoe
- Another uncle, Ignacio, offers to take Manuel Gustavo on as his own illegitimate son.
- Come to that, she had only one uncle, her father's brother Eric, and she hardly ever saw him.
- His maternal uncle, William Dauney, had been an architect in Aberdeen.
- I remember two aunts and an uncle, all very dear to me, dying within a few months.
- Suppose your favorite uncle proudly tells you that your birthday present is a subscription to the Salmon of the Month Club.
- The years hold little joy for Jacob, who meets a crooked dealer after his own kind in his uncle Laban.
- Which uncle had told him that was a fatal mistake?
- You shall visit your aunt and uncle.
WORD SETS
baby, nounbarrier method, nounbetrothal, nounboy, nounBr., branch, nouncontraception, nouncousin, noundescendant, noundescent, noundistant, adjectivedivorce, noundivorce, verbdivorced, adjectivedivorcée, noundomestic, adjectivedowry, noundynasty, nounex, nounextended family, nounfamilial, adjectivefamily man, nounfamily planning, nounfamily tree, nounfather, nounfather-in-law, nounfiancé, nounfiancée, nounfilial, adjectivefirst cousin, noungodchild, noungoddaughter, noungrandad, noungrandaddy, noungrandchild, noungranddad, noungranddaddy, noungranddaughter, noungrandfather, noungrandma, noungrandmother, noungrandpa, noungrandparent, noungrandson, noungranny, nounhalf-brother, nounhalf-sister, nounhereditary, adjectivehouse husband, nounin-laws, nounintermarry, verbmaiden aunt, nounmaid of honour, nounmam, nounmama, nounmamma, nounmammy, nounman, nounmarital, adjectivematrimony, nounmiscegenation, nounmixed marriage, nounmonogamy, nounnuclear family, nounoedipal, adjectiveOedipus complex, nounone-parent family, nounparent, nounparentage, nounparental, adjectiveparenthood, nounparenting, nounpaternity, nounpaternity suit, nounpatriarch, nounpatriarchy, nounpedigree, nounpolygamy, nounpropinquity, nounproposal, nounrelative, nounscion, nounseparate, verbseparated, adjectiveseparation, nounsibling, nounsingle parent, nounsister, nounsister-in-law, nounstepbrother, nounstepchild, nounstepdaughter, nounstepfather, nounstepmother, nounstepsister, nounstepson, noununcle, noununion, noununmarried, adjectiveupbringing, nounwedding, nounwedlock, nounwhite wedding, nounwidow, nounwidower, nounwidowhood, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY I was very excited about becoming an uncle (=your sister or your brother’s wife has a child).COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
I was very excited about becoming an uncle (=your sister or your brother’s wife has a child).· But at least they would clarify the current situation and offer the Prince a place in history alongside his great uncle.· I remember my great uncle being asked whether my brother would make a surgeon.· He was the great uncle of Joseph Rank, the miller.
· His maternal uncle, William Dauney, had been an architect in Aberdeen.· Even during the operation, performed by other maternal uncles, there is much talking, humour and giving of advice.· What is to be made of this extraordinary permissiveness on the part of the maternal uncle?
· And my old uncle, the priest in Belfast I lived with as a boy.· Not them, nor the dress, nor the old aunts and uncles, nothing like that.· Beer and whisky make your old uncle frisky.· And your old uncle is having the time of his life, and wishes he could write better letters.· Why did you leave me with your silly old uncle?
VERB· A severe drenching would kill his uncle.· After my parents were killed, my uncle stepped into my life and raised me as a daughter.· He wants to kill his uncle, but he can't.· Grown to young manhood, Krishna killed his tyrant uncle and won universal renown.· That he wanted her uncle to kill him so that her uncle would be damned.
· But true to his word, before I left, my uncle gave me help.· Her complexion was still a heightened pink when Naylor left his uncle and came over to her.
· Wainewright thought he could improve his situation by going to live with his uncle in a large-ish house in Chiswick.· Her family sent her to live with her uncle, before the emperor could be alerted.· The narrator of the Fiction, Philip Parrish, is an orphan living with his uncle but with many brothers scattered elsewhere.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► Bob’s your uncle!► great-grandfather/great-grandmother/great-aunt/great-uncle
1the brother of your mother or father, or the husband of your aunt: - At the home of his paternal uncle he was very much at home.
- C.'s paternal grandmother applied for residence and contact.
- In 1989 T. moved to live with her paternal grandmother and a year later she went to live with her boyfriend.
- The boy's paternal grandmother had unsuccessfully applied for a residence order.
- The boy's father and paternal grandmother applied, interalia, for an order for the boy to reside with the grandmother.
- The infant girl was immediately named Margarett Williams Sargent for her paternal grandmother, who was eighty-three and ailing.
I went to stay with my uncle and aunt for a few days. Uncle Philip I was very excited about becoming an uncle (=your sister or your brother’s wife has a child).2used by children, in front of a first name, to address or refer to a man who is a close friend of their parents3say uncle American English spoken used by children to tell someone to admit they have been defeated