unkel

Noun

uncle (plural uncles)

1. The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent.
   • And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs, ascending the stairs two at a time, peeped perfunctorily into the nursery as she passed the hallway—and halted amazed.1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 14
2. The male cousin of one’s parent.
3. (endearing) Used as a fictive kinship title for a close male friend of one's parent or parents.
4. (euphemistic) Used as a title for the male companion to one's (usually unmarried) parent.
5. (figuratively) A source of advice, encouragement, or help.
6. (UK, dated, informal) A pawnbroker.
   • December 1843, William Makepeace Thackeray, "Grant in Paris" (review), in Fraser's Magazine
     A chain hangs out of the pocket of his velvet waistcoat , by which we may conclude that he has a watch , though we have known many gents whose watches were at their uncle's (as the fashionable term for the...

See all 13 meanings of uncle