Definition of DEKE

Did You Know?

Deke originated as a shortened form of "decoy." Ernest Hemingway used "deke" as a noun referring to hunting decoys in his 1950 novel Across the River and into the Trees ("I offered to put the dekes out with him"). About a decade later, "deke" began appearing in ice-hockey contexts in Canadian print sources as both a verb and a noun ("the act of faking an opponent out of position"). Today, "deke" has scored in many other sports, including baseball, basketball, and football. It has also checked its way into more general usage to refer to deceptive or evasive moves or actions. However, this general application of "deke" has never made it past the defenders. It occurs too rarely in English to merit its own sense in the dictionary.

Examples of deke in a Sentence

deked the lone defenseman with a deft move of his stick and went in for the breakaway

Recent Examples on the Web

After the Generals managed a few shots, Conard gained control of the puck but had a pass intercepted by Arena, who would deke Conard goalie Shea Henderson to score the unassisted shorthanded goal with 58 seconds left in the first. — Sean Begin, courant.com, "Hockey: Farmington Valley Reaches Div. II Finals, Beats Conard for 3rd Time," 12 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'deke.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.