beck1
/bɛk
/noun Northern English
A stream.But £160,000 is needed for the final phase, a pumping station to discharge water from the beck into the River Derwent....
- This would be used to pump water from the beck into the river when the sluice was closed, so that beckwater did not itself back up and flood the roads.
- The villagers are trying to fund the installation of a pumping station to pump water from the beck into the river.
Origin
Middle English: from Old Norse bekkr, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch beek and German Bach. Used as the common term for a brook in northern areas, beck often refers, in literature, to a brook with a stony bed or following a rugged course, typical of such areas.
If you are at someone's beck and call you have to be ready to obey their orders immediately. The phrase is known from the 19th century, but beck itself is much older, being a Middle English shortening of beckon. The northern English word beck (Middle English), meaning a stream or brook, is unconnected, and comes from Old Norse.
Rhymes
beck2
/bɛk/noun literary
A gesture requesting attention, such as a nod or wave.And when Niall, who stood on the sideline for 40 minutes, finally got the beck, he didn't disappoint, scoring his first point in 20 years....
- And second, it had always been my assumption that anyone interested in getting involved could do so without the beck of enthusiastic recruiters.
- Come to think of it, I have the Antidote to Rage lying in my DVD player awaiting for the beck of a remote control.
Phrases
at someone's beck and call
Origin
Middle English: from archaic beck, abbreviated form of beckon.