UNCLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does uncle mean? 

• UNCLE (noun)
  The noun UNCLE has 2 senses:

1. the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt

2. a source of help and advice and encouragement

  Familiarity information: UNCLE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNCLE (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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

he played uncle to lonely students

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

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

 Context examples 

“I have seen Forbes, and I have seen your uncle, and I have set one or two trains of inquiry upon foot which may lead to something.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is such enjoyment to them, that if their uncle did not lay down the rule of their taking turns, whichever began would never give way to the other.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Do you think so? said Fanny: in my opinion, my uncle would not like any addition.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“You were brought up by an uncle, then?” said I.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Nothing would induce him to give his old uncle away.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

They were married, married in town, and now hastening down to her uncle's.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

“Oh,” answered the wife, “he is gone into the country to his mother’s great uncle; he is going to stay there some time.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Besides, the entire fortune is your right: my uncle gained it by his own efforts; he was free to leave it to whom he would: he left it to you.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

You must know that my grandfather had two sons—my uncle Elias and my father Joseph.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)