Definition of uncle
1a : the brother of one's father or motherb : the husband of one's aunt or uncle
2 : one who helps, advises, or encourages
3 —used as a cry of surrender was forced to cry uncle
4 capitalized : uncle sam
From the M-W Editors
Examples of uncle in a Sentence
I have three uncles and two aunts.
My Uncle David is visiting next week.
Recent Examples of uncle from the Web
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He is also survived by his children Abbi Cooley and Karsen Cooley; Girlfriend Amy Donahue; Maternal Grand Parent and several aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends.
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Kushner’s father and uncle have been feuding publicly for more than a decade through competing property empires.
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His grandfather coached youth baseball, and his uncle encouraged Shafer in the arts and sports.
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Austin Edwards, the 11-year-old boy who was killed, had been looking forward to doing one of his favorite things with his grandfather and uncle on Memorial Day: fishing.
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His grandfather’s brother raced there, as did his father, uncles and cousins.
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Her uncle, Victor Soria, is the owner of the poodles.
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Gupta is a celebrated British writer of Bengali descent whose great-uncle, Dinesh Chandra Gupta, was a revolutionary hanged in 1931 for his role in assassinating a British inspector-general of prisons.
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One by one, my entire family moved there — first the grandparents, then the aunts and uncles.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'uncle'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of uncle
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin avunculus mother's brother; akin to Old English ēam uncle, Welsh ewythr, Latin avus grandfather
First Known Use: 14th century
UNCLE Defined for English Language Learners
uncle
playDefinition of uncle for English Language Learners
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: the brother of your father or mother or the husband of your aunt
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—used as a word that you say when you are being hurt in a fight to show that you admit being defeated and do not want to continue fighting
UNCLE Defined for Kids
uncle
playDefinition of uncle for Students
1 : the brother of a person's father or mother
2 : the husband of a person's aunt
Learn More about uncle
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See words that rhyme with uncle Spanish Central: Translation of uncle Nglish: Translation of uncle for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of uncle for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about uncle
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