WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
un•cle /ˈʌŋkəl/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- a brother of one's father or mother.
- an aunt's husband.
- Idioms, Informal Terms say or cry uncle, [no object] to admit defeat.
un•cle
(ung′kəl),USA pronunciation n.
un′cle•less, adj.
un′cle•ship′, n.
- a brother of one's father or mother.
- an aunt's husband.
- a familiar title or term of address for any elderly man.
- Slang Termsa pawnbroker.
- Informal Terms(cap.) Uncle Sam.
- a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter U.
- Informal Terms say or cry uncle, to concede defeat:They ganged up on him in the schoolyard and made him say uncle.
- Latin avunculus mother's brother, equivalent. to av(us) mother's father + -unculus suffix extracted from dims. of n-stems (see homunculus)
- Anglo-French uncle, Old French oncle
- Middle English 1250–1300
un′cle•ship′, n.
'cry uncle' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):