Tuck Means Food in British School Slang
To tuck is to push in neatly. In Britain tuck also means snacks, as in a tuck shop.
To tuck is to push something into a narrow space or fold it neatly. In British schools a *tuck shop* sells sweets and snacks, and *tuck* on its own means food — from *tuck in*, meaning to eat heartily, which itself comes from the image of tucking food away inside yourself. The noun grew out of the phrase. The verb is Old English *tucian*, to torment or punish, which came through Middle Low German with the gentler sense of pulling and folding cloth.
- To fold in. *Tucking in a shirt.*
- A sewn fold. *A tuck in the seam.*
- Food (British). *A tuck shop.*
- To eat heartily. *Tuck in.*
- Old English — *tucian*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | tuck | Tucking. |
| Noun | tuck | A tuck. |
| Past | tucked | Tucked. |
| Compound | tuck shop | A tuck shop. |
| Phrase | tuck in | Tuck in. |
- Tuck your shirt in.Folding.
- Sweets from the tuck shop.British.
- Tuck in, everyone.Eating.
British school words
- Tuck — snacks and sweets
- Prep — homework done at school
- Form — a year group or class
- Head boy and head girl — senior pupil roles
- Many spread through school stories in the 1900s
Old English *tucian*, to punish, reinforced by Middle Low German *tucken*, to pull or tuck.
Why does tuck mean food in Britain?
From the phrase tuck in, meaning to eat heartily. The noun grew out of it, giving the tuck shop.
What did the verb originally mean?
In Old English it meant to torment or punish; the folding sense came through Low German.