dukes

dukes
dukes "hands," 1874, now mainly in put up your dukes (phrase from 1859), probably not connected to DUKE (Cf. duke) (n.). Chapman ["Dictionary of American Slang"] suggests Romany dook "the hand as read in palmistry, one's fate;" but Partridge ["Slang To-day and Yesterday"] gives it a plausible, if elaborate, etymology as a contraction of Duke of Yorks, rhyming slang for forks, a Cockney term for "fingers," thus "hands."

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Dukes — may refer to:* Dukes (band), a rock group from New Zealand * Dukes, a brand of skate shoe * The Dukes of Stratosphear, a pseudonym used by the British rock band XTC * Albuquerque Dukes, a former Triple A Baseball team * The Dukes of Hazzard , an… …   Wikipedia

  • Dukes — (Паралион Астрос,Греция) Категория отеля: Адрес: Paralio Astros, Паралион Астрос, 22001, Греция …   Каталог отелей

  • Dukes — (spr. Djuhks), Grafschaft des Staates Massachusetts (Nordamerika), besteht aus den im Atlantischen Ocean liegenden Inseln: Marthas Vineyard, Chippiquiddic, No Mans Land u. der Gruppe der Elisabethinseln mit einem Gesammtflächenraum von 5,50 QM.,… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Dukes — Dukes, Leopold, jüd. Schriftsteller, geb. 17. Jan. 1810 in Preßburg, gest. 3. Aug. 1891 in Wien, wo er als Privatgelehrter wirkte, hat die jüdische Literatur durch eine Menge großenteils aus handschriftlichem Material geschöpfter Abhandlungen,… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Dukes — Dieser Artikel oder Abschnitt ist nicht hinreichend mit Belegen (Literatur, Webseiten oder Einzelnachweisen) versehen. Die fraglichen Angaben werden daher möglicherweise demnächst gelöscht. Hilf Wikipedia, indem du die Angaben recherchierst und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dukes —    , PUT UP YOUR DUKES    Augustus Frederick (1763 1820) became the Duke of York by royal appointment. Although he was the second son of England s George III, he stood little chance of becoming king. As commander in chief of the army, he lost the …   Dictionary of eponyms

  • dukes — 1. n. the fists. □ Okay, brother, put your dukes up. □ The guy’s got dukes like hams. 2. n. the knees. D He went down on his dukes and prayed for all sorts of good stuff. □ He cracked one of his dukes on the railing …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • Dukes — This interesting name has two possible origins, the first of which is derived from the Middle English duk(e) , duke, also found as douk, duc, doke , and developed from the Old French duc , in the sense of the leader of an army, captain, derived… …   Surnames reference

  • dukes — n. (colloq.) fists to put up one s dukes * * * (colloq.) [ fists ] to put up one s dukes …   Combinatory dictionary

  • dukes — n pl American fists. This has been part of the jargon of streetfighters and pugilists since the turn of the 20th century. It originates either in the rhyming slang Duke of York: fork, i.e. a hand or finger, or from a Romany word meaning palm or… …   Contemporary slang

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