UNCLE

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("uncle" is a kind of...):

kinsman (a male relative)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "uncle"):

granduncle; great-uncle (an uncle of your father or mother)

Antonym:

aunt (the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle)

Derivation:

avuncular (being or relating to an uncle)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A source of help and advice and encouragement

Example:

he played uncle to lonely students

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("uncle" is a kind of...):

benefactor; helper (a person who helps people or institutions (especially with financial help))

Credits

Context examples:

My uncle is to send a servant for us.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Lord Avon lost, and Sir Lothian lost, and my uncle lost, and Captain Barrington won until he could win no more.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A child of your aunt or uncle.

(First Cousin, NCI Thesaurus)

The sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle.

(Aunt, NCI Thesaurus)

My uncle is not pleased with the idea of a military career in a distant country, but Ernest never had your powers of application.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Uncle doesn't know ten words, and insists on talking English very loud, as if it would make people understand him.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A child of your aunt or uncle or their descendents.

(Cousin, NCI Thesaurus)

My son Johnny, named so after his uncle, was at the grammar-school, and a towardly child.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Your third house also rules your sister, brother, and cousins, aunts, and uncles, so your focus may be on one of those individuals.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

He is below pricking out the coat-armor of his mother's uncle.