Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Eke
Eke
(ēk)
, Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Eked
(ēkt)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Eking
.] [AS.
ēkan
, ȳkan
; akin to OFries. āka
, OS. ōkian
, OHG. ouhhōn
to add, Icel. auka
to increase, Sw. öka
, Dan. öge
, Goth. aukan
, L. augere
, Skr. ōjas
strength, ugra
mighty, and probably to English wax
, v. i. Cf. Augment
, Nickname
.] To increase; to add to; to augment; – now commonly used with
“To eke my pain.” out
, the notion conveyed being to add to, or piece out by a laborious, inferior, or scanty addition; as, to
. eke
out a scanty supply of one kind with some otherSpenser.
He
eked
out by his wits an income of barely fifty pounds. Macaulay.
Eke
,adv.
[AS.
eác
; akin to OFries. ák
, OS. [GREEK]k
, D. [GREEK]ok
, OHG. ouh
, G. auch
, Icel. auk
, Sw. och
and, Dan. og
, Goth. auk
for, but. Prob. from the preceding verb.] In addition; also; likewise.
[Obs. or Archaic]
’T will be prodigious hard to prove
That this is
That this is
eke
the throne of love. Prior.
A trainband captain
Of famous London town.
eke
was heOf famous London town.
Cowper.
☞ Eke serves less to unite than to render prominent a subjoined more important sentence or notion.
Mätzner.
Eke
,Noun.
An addition.
[R.]
Clumsy
ekes
that may well be spared. Geddes.
Webster 1828 Edition
Eke
EKE
,Verb.
T.
1.
To increase; to enlarge; as, to eke a store of provisions. 2. To add to; to supply what is wanted; to enlarge by addition; sometimes with out; as, to eke or eke out a piece of cloth; to eke out a performance.3.
To lengthen; to prolong; as, to eke out the time.EKE
,adv.
'Twill be prodigious hard to prove,
That this is eke the throne of love.
[This word is nearly obsolete, being used only in poetry of the familiar and ludicrous kind.]
Definition 2024
Eke
eke
eke
English
Verb
eke (third-person singular simple present ekes, present participle eking, simple past and past participle eked)
- (obsolete except in eke out) To increase; to add to, augment, lengthen.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Canto I.v
- Here endlesse penance for one fault I pay, / But that redoubled crime with vengeance new / Thou biddest me to eeke?
- 2012 July 11, Ben Perry, “Branson's spaceship steals the spotlight at airshow”, in Yahoo News, retrieved 2012-07-12:
- British tycoon Richard Branson stole the show here Wednesday, announcing that he and his family would be on Virgin Galactic's first trip into space, as Airbus and Boeing eked out more plane orders.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Canto I.v
Translations
To increase; to add to, augment, lengthen
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|
Noun
eke (plural ekes)
- (obsolete) An addition.
- Geddes
- Clumsy ekes that may well be spared.
- Geddes
Etymology 2
From Middle English eke, eake (“an addition”), from Old English ēaca (“an addition”). Akin to Old Norse auki (“an addition”).
Noun
eke (plural ekes)
- (beekeeping, archaic) A very small addition to the bottom of a beehive, often merely of a few bands of straw, on which the hive is raised temporarily.
Etymology 3
From Middle English eek (“also”), from Old English ēac, ēc (“also”), from Proto-Germanic *auk. Akin to West Frisian ek, Dutch ook (“also”), German auch (“also”), Swedish ock (“also”).
Adverb
eke (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Also.
- 1663, Hudibras, by Samuel Butler, part 1, canto 1
- 'Tis false: for Arthur wore in hall / Round-table like a farthingal, / On which, with shirt pull'd out behind, / And eke before, his good knights dined.
- 1782, The Diverting History of John Gilpin, by William Cowper
- 'John Gilpin was a citizen / of credit and renown / A train-band captain eke was he / of famous London town.'
- 1663, Hudibras, by Samuel Butler, part 1, canto 1
Translations
See also
Anagrams
Hungarian
Etymology
From a Turkic language, compare the Turkish verb form ek.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈɛkɛ]
- Hyphenation: eke
Noun
eke (plural ekék)
Declension
| Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony) | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |
| nominative | eke | ekék |
| accusative | ekét | ekéket |
| dative | ekének | ekéknek |
| instrumental | ekével | ekékkel |
| causal-final | ekéért | ekékért |
| translative | ekévé | ekékké |
| terminative | ekéig | ekékig |
| essive-formal | ekeként | ekékként |
| essive-modal | — | — |
| inessive | ekében | ekékben |
| superessive | ekén | ekéken |
| adessive | ekénél | ekéknél |
| illative | ekébe | ekékbe |
| sublative | ekére | ekékre |
| allative | ekéhez | ekékhez |
| elative | ekéből | ekékből |
| delative | ekéről | ekékről |
| ablative | ekétől | ekéktől |
| Possessive forms of eke | ||
|---|---|---|
| possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
| 1st person sing. | ekém | ekéim |
| 2nd person sing. | ekéd | ekéid |
| 3rd person sing. | ekéje | ekéi |
| 1st person plural | ekénk | ekéink |
| 2nd person plural | ekétek | ekéitek |
| 3rd person plural | ekéjük | ekéik |