Noun (2)
when we were lads, we raced our toy boats in the narrow beck that bordered the lane
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Noun
Meanwhile, Google's own AI assistant, Gemini, will be at your beck and call.—Jade Chung-Lee, PC Magazine, 12 July 2025 For $2,100 per day, Royal Expression Travels provides an SUV or sedan with a driver at your beck and call to arrange anything from last-minute diamond shopping or rerouting helicopters to a discreet helipad.—Paula Conway, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025 Working for and being at the beck and call of one family requires an intricate balance that’s not always easy to strike.—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 14 May 2025 Maurice is the prince of our household and has us at his beck and call.—Joan Morris, The Mercury News, 27 Jan. 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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