duke
noun
(in Continental Europe) the male ruler of a duchy; the sovereign of a small state.
duke
1 American
[dook, dyook]
/ duk, djuk /
noun
-
dukes
plural
-
(in Continental Europe) the male ruler of a duchy; the sovereign of a small state.
-
a British nobleman holding the highest hereditary title outside the royal family, ranking immediately below a prince and above a marquis; a member of the highest rank of the British peerage.
-
a nobleman of corresponding rank in certain other countries.
-
a cultivated hybrid of the sweet and sour cherry.
-
Slang. dukes, fists; hands.
Put up your dukes.
verb (used with object)
duked,
duking
idioms
Duke
2
American
[dook, dyook]
/ duk, djuk /
noun
-
Benjamin Newton, 1855–1929, and his brother, James Buchanan, 1856–1925, U.S. industrialists.
-
a male given name.
duke
British
/ djuːk /
noun
-
a nobleman of high rank: in the British Isles standing above the other grades of the nobility
-
the prince or ruler of a small principality or duchy
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of duke
First recorded in 1100–50; Middle English duke, duc, late Old English duc, from Old French duc, dus, dux, from Medieval Latin dux “hereditary ruler of a small state,” Latin: “leader”; see dux; duke def. 5 dukes (in the sense “fists”) of unclear derivation and perhaps of distinct origin
Explanation
A duke is a member of a royal or noble group. In some places, dukes rule over certain regions, while in others duke is just an honorary title. In the U.K., a duke inherits his title from his parents. Prince William, for example, is the Duke of Cambridge, while his father Prince Charles is the Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay. The equivalent title for a woman is duchess. Informally, duke has a very different meaning in the U.S. — if you "duke it out," you have a fight, and to "put up your dukes" means to clench your fists and get ready to punch.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Awards season is around the corner, with opponents ready to duke it out in the ring of swanky luncheons and Hollywood hobnobbing.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Byfield had originally obtained the post after selling a copy of his military memoir to the duke while employed as a tollkeeper.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
Last month, the duke and six other public figures lost their High Court privacy case against the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
They were allowed to keep their duke and duchess of Sussex titles, but lost other monarchy privileges.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
The duke is impatient and ambitious, and he spends money lavishly.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Ellen Meade is research professor of economics at Duke University and a member of the Dallas Fed’s Academic Advisory Council.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
“There’s this perception that college students don’t want to pursue God, and that is the farthest thing from the truth,” said Ella Wang, a Duke University sophomore who attended a recent visit by the Knechtles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
The Duke of Sussex has said he "slipped into depression for about two weeks" after relocating to Canada in 2019 ahead of his move to the US.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
To make that possible, Eyquem and collaborators from the Gladstone Institutes, Duke University, and Innovative Genomics Institute developed a system based on two different particles.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
But if Scruffy and Nala got to Duke first, Duke would undoubtedly stick with his old sidekicks because they were part of his heroic rescue team.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
The company raised its dividend in April, and some strategists see the potential for a special dividend on the horizon, as the Costco dukes it out with the government over tariffs.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
Meanwhile, Abdulmejid and his family lived a glitzy Riviera life, attending dances, we are told, with “four or five kings and any number of princes, dukes and counts.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
Just two years after “Cruise” debuted, duo Maddie & Tae had heard enough about arm candy and daisy dukes to satirize the subgenre’s views on women with 2015’s “Girl in a Country Song.”
From Salon ● May 16, 2025
He said Myers illness was physically obvious but as soon as the cameras started rolling "he'd have his dukes up, ready for a scrap".
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2024
In Florence, the capital of Tuscany, Vincenzio became a court musician, and his family mixed with dukes and princes at the artistic and intellectual heart of reborn Europe.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
So for nearly 170 miles, the greatest cyclists from the sport’s heartlands duked it out around the roads of Quebec.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
After losing to world champion Littler in last year's final, Humphries triumphed 11-8 in the repeat as the world's top two duked it out at O2 Arena.
From BBC ● May 29, 2025
As the insects groomed each other, the six types of fungi duked it out among themselves, with no clear winner taking over, the team reports this month in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 9, 2023
She also seemed calmer as her fellow candidates duked it out around her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2022
The mermaid leuch, her brief was gane, And kelpie's blast was blawin', Fu' low she duked, ne'er raise again, For deep, deep was the fawin'.
From The Book of Old English Ballads by Hamilton Wright Mabie
Musk has a history of duking it out with executives, like with JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon before the pair patched things up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The primary bedroom also comes with a fireplace, as well as an expansive walk-in closet and a spa bathroom, perfect for relaxation after a long day of duking it out on air.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 8, 2026
"There is still a transfer fee for anyone who wants to negotiate and we are duking it out with the big boys in France like La Rochelle," said Sanderson.
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2026
“Nickel Boys” “At this stage, two Cannes prizewinners are duking it out for the top spot: Sean Baker’s box-office hit ‘Anora’ and Jacques Audiard’s ‘Emilia Pérez.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024
For a moment, from his vantage point, it looked as if maybe his boys and the Brits were all alone out front, duking it out.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
