Beck


a gesture used to signal, summon, or direct someone.
Chiefly Scot. a bow or curtsy of greeting.
Archaic. beckon.
at someone’s beck and call, ready to do someone’s bidding; subject to someone’s slightest wish:
He has three servants at his beck and call.
a brook, especially a swiftly running stream with steep banks.
to form (a billet or the like) into a tire or hoop by rolling or hammering on a mandrel or anvil.
Dave, 1894–1993, U.S. labor leader: president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters 1952–57.
Contemporary Examples

Some beck critics think beck has gone about as far as he can with the distressed-and-angry demographic.
Is Glenn Beck a Fake? Dana Milbank October 3, 2010

In this clip, beck speaks with Weather Channel founder John Coleman on why global warming is a scam.
Glenn Beck’s Most Outrageous Moments The Daily Beast Video June 29, 2011

Could beck and Jones et al be cynically conspiracy theorizing for bucks?
Boston Bombing Conspiracies and What’s Behind the ‘False Flag’ Crazies Lloyd Grove April 24, 2013

A civilian commission overruled beck and rebuked his conclusion.
Worse Than Eric Garner: Cops Who Got Away With Killing Autistic Men and Little Girls Emily Shire December 3, 2014

beck went beyond demonizing Soros; he cast him as the protagonist in an updated Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Glenn Beck’s Anti-Semitic Attacks Michelle Goldberg November 9, 2010

Historical Examples

Mrs. beck broke into laughter, and there was a note in it that suggested hysteria.
The Light of Western Stars Zane Grey

Is there a minute of my life that she is not sending for me—expecting me to be at her beck and call?
Pretty Madcap Dorothy Laura Jean Libbey

Dollies big and dollies small Still are at her beck and call.
A line-o’-verse or two Bert Leston Taylor

When I knocked at Mr. beck’s door, a voice called out, “Come in.”
Harper’s Young People, October 12, 1880 Various

We have reached the beck, and this warm south wind “will blow the hook to the fishes’ mouth.”
Sporting Society, Vol. II (of 2) Various

noun
a nod, wave, or other gesture or signal
at someone’s beck and call, ready to obey someone’s orders instantly; subject to someone’s slightest whim
noun
(in N England) a stream, esp a swiftly flowing one
n.

late 14c., “mute signal,” from noun use of bekken (v.), variant of becnan “to beckon” (see beckon). Transferred sense of “slightest indication of will” is from late 15c.
v.

c.1300, shortening of beckon. (v.).
see: at someone’s beck and call

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