Standard Lemma guide

bouk

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /baʊk/
  • /bəʊk/
  • UK, dialectal: /buːk/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The belly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, dialectal, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The trunk or torso of the body, hence the body itself.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The carcass of a slaughtered animal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English bouk, from Old English būc (“belly, stomach, pitcher”), from Proto-West Germanic *būk, from Proto-Germanic *būkaz (“belly, body”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhōw- (“to blow, swell”). Doublet of bucket. Cognate with Scots bouk, bowk, buik (“body, carcass”), Dutch buik (“belly”), German Bauch (“belly”), Swedish buk (“belly, abdomen”), Norwegian Bokmål buk (“belly”), Icelandic búkur (“torso”). For the phonetic development, compare puck, suck.