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nock

Pronunciation: /nɒk/

The English word “nock” has 6 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Either of the two grooves in a bow that hold the bowstring.
  2. The notch at the rear of an arrow that fits on the bowstring.
  3. The upper fore corner of a boom sail or trysail.

verb

  1. To fit (an arrow) against the bowstring of a bow or crossbow.
  2. To cut a nock in (usually in an arrow's base or the tips of a bow).

interjection

  1. Fit the arrow to your bowstring.

Etymology

From Middle English nokke, attested since the 14th century, probably from a Scandinavian/North Germanic language (compare Swedish nock (“notch”), but compare Dutch nok, from Middle Dutch nocke (“tip, point”). Both could be related to nook (“corner, recess”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.