1
: a sovereign male ruler of a continental European duchy
2
: a nobleman of the highest hereditary rank
especially
: a member of the highest grade of the British peerage
Examples of duke in a Sentence
Noun
Put up your dukes and fight, you coward!
Recent Examples on the Web
Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024
The duke himself is now the chair of the Grosvenor Group, an investment and real estate company that oversees rural estates.
—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 5 Dec. 2023
Meaning, neither of you reflexively put your dukes up.
—Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024
The first part makes introductions and sketches in Paul’s back story as the beloved only son of a duke, Leto (Oscar Isaac), and his concubine, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson).
—Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 29 Feb. 2024
While the lights of Florentine culture dimmed, Lorenzo’s heirs were installed as hereditary dukes of a city whose long republican experiment had finally failed.
—Claudia Roth Pierpont, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024
Hohenzollern then served as the first duke of Prussia until his death in 1568.
—Moira Ritter, Miami Herald, 31 Jan. 2024
This year, Melbourne (not to mention the entire state of Victoria) is pulling out the red carpet for visitors who make it around the world in a day for the chance to see the stars of the hardcourt duke it out for roughly $58 million in prize money.
—Christopher Cameron, Robb Report, 9 Jan. 2024
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Grade: B+ 02 'The Duke Gets Desperate' by Diana Quincy
Diana Quincy launches her new Sirens in Silk series with this luscious tale of an American heiress and a dashing duke.
—EW.com, 16 Nov. 2023
Kaitlyn Huamani, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
How to watch The four teams left in the men’s edition of March Madness this year will duke it out on Saturday, April 6 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
—Ben Morse, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
Samsung and Apple are duking it out over AI smartphones
Samsung’s free-for-now AI smartphone features are getting an update today, and that’ll put the South Korean electronics giant ahead of Apple in at least one instance: the race to bring generative AI to cell phones.
—Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
The group’s anarchic music was like one of those cartoon fight clouds, with punk, post-punk, industrial, goth, psychedelia, college rock, and collage rock duking it out with old EC Comics, MAD magazines, and the Lone Star proclivity toward general orneriness.
—Stephen Deusner, SPIN, 26 Mar. 2024
Businessman Bernie Moreno and state Sen. Matt Dolan are duking it out in polling, with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose lagging as voters cast their ballots.
—Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 19 Mar. 2024
The two are expected to duke it out to become the leading non-Trump candidate.
—Brittany Bernstein, National Review, 15 Nov. 2023
Other beach-goers danced, flung Frisbees and footballs, kicked soccer balls and even duked it out in boxing gloves.
—Chris Eberhart, Fox News, 12 Mar. 2024
Lauren Blois, a sophomore at Saint Anselm College, hopes the presidential candidates do duke it out in a debate.
—Mike Pappano, ABC News, 2 Feb. 2024
Noun
On the show, James plays Eddie Halstead, a member of a British aristocratic family who becomes a duke when his father suddenly dies.
—Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024
The duke himself is now the chair of the Grosvenor Group, an investment and real estate company that oversees rural estates.
—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 5 Dec. 2023
Meaning, neither of you reflexively put your dukes up.
—Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024
The first part makes introductions and sketches in Paul’s back story as the beloved only son of a duke, Leto (Oscar Isaac), and his concubine, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson).
—Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 29 Feb. 2024
While the lights of Florentine culture dimmed, Lorenzo’s heirs were installed as hereditary dukes of a city whose long republican experiment had finally failed.
—Claudia Roth Pierpont, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024
Hohenzollern then served as the first duke of Prussia until his death in 1568.
—Moira Ritter, Miami Herald, 31 Jan. 2024
This year, Melbourne (not to mention the entire state of Victoria) is pulling out the red carpet for visitors who make it around the world in a day for the chance to see the stars of the hardcourt duke it out for roughly $58 million in prize money.
—Christopher Cameron, Robb Report, 9 Jan. 2024
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Grade: B+ 02 'The Duke Gets Desperate' by Diana Quincy
Diana Quincy launches her new Sirens in Silk series with this luscious tale of an American heiress and a dashing duke.
—EW.com, 16 Nov. 2023
Verb
The target audience for Coachella, the die-hard music fans who once duked it out for tickets, may have also changed their concert-going preferences.
—Kaitlyn Huamani, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
How to watch The four teams left in the men’s edition of March Madness this year will duke it out on Saturday, April 6 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
—Ben Morse, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
Samsung and Apple are duking it out over AI smartphones
Samsung’s free-for-now AI smartphone features are getting an update today, and that’ll put the South Korean electronics giant ahead of Apple in at least one instance: the race to bring generative AI to cell phones.
—Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
The group’s anarchic music was like one of those cartoon fight clouds, with punk, post-punk, industrial, goth, psychedelia, college rock, and collage rock duking it out with old EC Comics, MAD magazines, and the Lone Star proclivity toward general orneriness.
—Stephen Deusner, SPIN, 26 Mar. 2024
Businessman Bernie Moreno and state Sen. Matt Dolan are duking it out in polling, with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose lagging as voters cast their ballots.
—Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 19 Mar. 2024
The two are expected to duke it out to become the leading non-Trump candidate.
—Brittany Bernstein, National Review, 15 Nov. 2023
Other beach-goers danced, flung Frisbees and footballs, kicked soccer balls and even duked it out in boxing gloves.
—Chris Eberhart, Fox News, 12 Mar. 2024
Lauren Blois, a sophomore at Saint Anselm College, hopes the presidential candidates do duke it out in a debate.
—Mike Pappano, ABC News, 2 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'duke.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near duke
Cite this Entry
“Duke.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/duke. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationBiographical Definition
Duke
biographical name
ˈdük 
ˈdyük
Benjamin Newton 1855–1929 and his brother James Buchanan 1856–1925 American tobacco industrialists
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share