Definition

1. Noun:

   • A detachable piece of fabric: A decorative piece of lace, linen, or other fabric, worn over the chest area of a low-cut dress, historically as a modesty piece or ornament.
   • A person who tucks: (Archaic) A sewer or someone whose job is to make tucks (small, stitched folds) in fabric.
   • A proper noun (capitalized): The surname of notable individuals, such as the vaudeville performer Sophie Tucker or the anarchist Benjamin Tucker.

2. Verb (informal, chiefly Australian and New Zealand English):

   • To exhaust completely: To wear someone out, to make them very tired.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The antique dress was beautifully finished with a delicate lace tucker.
  • In the 19th century, a tucker was an essential part of a lady's formal attire.

• Verb:

  • That long hike really tuckered me out.
  • The children played so hard they were completely tuckered by bedtime.

Advanced Usage

• "to be tuckered out": This is the most common phrasal construction for the verb. It means to be completely exhausted.
  • After moving all the furniture, I was absolutely tuckered out.

Variants and Related Words

• Tuck (verb): To push, fold, or turn the edges of something inward or into a confined space. (e.g., ). This is the root verb from which "tucker" (the agent noun for a person who tucks) is derived.
• Bib and Tucker (noun phrase): An old-fashioned, humorous idiom meaning "best clothes" or "finery." (e.g., ). Here, "tucker" refers to the historical piece of fabric.

Synonyms

• For the verb (to tucker out): Exhaust, fatigue, wear out, tire out, drain, weary, knock out.
• For the noun (fabric piece): Fichu, modesty piece, neckerchief.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Tucker out: To cause to become very tired; to exhaust. Almost always used in the passive voice ("to be tuckered out").
  • The intense heat tuckered out the marathon runners.

Noun

1. a detachable yoke of linen or lace worn over the breast of a low-cut dress
2. a sewer who tucks
3. United States vaudevillian (born in Russia) noted for her flamboyant performances (1884-1966)
4. United States anarchist influential before World War I (1854-1939)

Verb

1. wear out completely
   • This kind of work exhausts me
   • I'm beat
   • He was all washed up after the exam