Skip to main content
tuck

tuck

5 8.1
Small sweets that children keep at school
  • noun
  • /tʌk/
  • UK
translation icon : tentempié
  • His mother had given him five pounds, and he had set off to the village to visit Mrs. Ishak and buy the allotted amount of sweets, chocolates, and biscuits that he was permitted to take to Templehall in his tuck-box, which were meant to last him for a full term.
  • a tuck shop
  • a tuck box

When it's dark and she knows just how to clock, she puts her tuck away.

Examples

  • A boy who would give his tuck money away to put a smile on someone else's face.

    Blog text (32)
  • My tuck-shop account is something to be seen to be believed.

    Blog text (4)
  • The tuck shop.

  • They had been to the tuck-shop, just beyond the school gates.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • After school, I like to buy some tuck from the tuck shop to enjoy during my homework.

  • The children rushed to the tuck shop at lunchtime to buy sweets and snacks.

  • For a treat, we packed some tuck like chocolate bars and crisps for our picnic.

Synonyms

bite
vstuck
302 1.0

A small amount of food eaten quickly

is used for sweets or snacks often tied to schoolchildren rather than small size
tucker
vstuck
  • Australian
2 8.9

Food in Australian English often means simple meals

is the British informal term linked with sweets for schoolchildren

Idioms

nip and tuck
  • Informal
1 8.1

Very close and evenly matched until the end

Compounds

7 6.7

An operation to remove extra skin and fat from the stomach and tighten the muscles

1 8.3

A small surgery on the face that removes wrinkles and tightens skin

4.5

A small shop in a school that sells sweets, snacks, and drinks

7.6

A small box where boarding school students keep sweets or snacks

Surface Forms

tuck singular
tucks plural

Etymology

Tuck meaning food is common in British English and links to the phrase 'tuck into', which means 'to eat'. A helpful way to remember it is the school 'tuck shop' where children buy sweets, so tuck can mean a treat or snack that you eat.