uncle

un·cle | \ ˈəŋ-kəl

How to pronounce uncle (audio)

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Definition of uncle

1a : the brother of one's father or mother

b : the husband of one's aunt or uncle

2 : one who helps, advises, or encourages

3 —used as a cry of surrenderwas forced to cry uncle

4 capitalized : uncle sam

Examples of uncle in a Sentence

I have three uncles and two aunts. My Uncle David is visiting next week.

Recent Examples on the Web Her uncle had already left some 15 years before, fleeing the repression of the Duvalier family’s first dictator. — Eric Boodman, STAT, "In the Covid-19 death of a hospital food worker, a microcosm of the pandemic," 30 June 2020 With Colin, Mel and her uncle, Louisa tries to figure out how to save some of those animals. — Abby Mcganney Nolan, Washington Post, "KidsPost Summer Book Club: ‘Music for Tigers’," 30 June 2020 Tuesday, June 23rd, President Trump’s family seeks a temporary restraining order, attempting to block the release of a tell-all book by the president’s niece, Mary Trump, that’s highly critical of her uncle. — Siraj Hashmi, Washington Examiner, "White House Weekly: June 29," 29 June 2020 Kia Bible, a mother of two who lives nearby, had borrowed her uncle’s white bus, parked it near the memorial three weeks ago, and assembled an ad hoc team of twenty-four-hour volunteer medics. — Krithika Varagur, The New York Review of Books, "Pulling Down ‘the Wall of No’ on Police Reform in Minneapolis," 26 June 2020 Waddell also spoke about meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and seeing his uncle's boxing gloves in a case on his wall. — Mandy Mclaren, The Courier-Journal, "Muhammad Ali's nephew warns Daniel Cameron at Breonna rally: 'Don't be on wrong side of history'," 25 June 2020 The boy had none of his uncle’s unabashed self-confidence. — Jon Blau, The Indianapolis Star, "Former Hoosier Micah Johnson finds voice as an artist," 25 June 2020 Days later, her uncle was killed at the hands of police. — Patrik Jonsson, The Christian Science Monitor, "Why even ‘the Atlanta way’ faces a reckoning on policing," 25 June 2020 Albert I, who sought to recast his uncle as a benevolent king. — Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic, "Democratizing the Statue Debate," 25 June 2020

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.

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Last Updated

5 Jul 2020

Cite this Entry

“Uncle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uncle. Accessed 5 Jul. 2020.

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More Definitions for uncle

uncle

noun

English Language Learners Definition of uncle

: the brother of your father or mother or the husband of your aunt

US, informal —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

See the full definition for uncle in the English Language Learners Dictionary

uncle

un·cle | \ ˈəŋ-kəl

\

Kids Definition of uncle

1 : the brother of a person's father or mother

2 : the husband of a person's aunt

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