name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
folks
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.
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Received-Pronunciation: /fəʊks/
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General-American: /foʊks/
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General-American, nonstandard: /foʊlks/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -əʊks
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CMU ARPABET: F OW1 K S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
name
Meaning 2
plural of Folk
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, plural
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 3
Transplants to Southern California from the Midwestern United States, especially Iowa.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: California, Southern, archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
The members of one's immediate family, especially one's parents
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: plural, plural-only
Examples
- My folks visit us at Christmas.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
People in general; everybody or anybody.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, plural, plural-only
Examples
- Lots of folks like to travel during the holidays.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
The police.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Louisiana, Southern, US, plural, plural-only, rare, slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
plural of folk
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, plural
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
Late 19th and early 20th century migrants to California from Iowa and other parts of the Midwestern United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: California, plural, plural-only
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
people in general (often used in the plural)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- they're just country folk
- folks around here drink moonshine
- the common people determine the group character and preserve its customs from one generation to the next
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: folk, common people
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: people
Narrower terms: country people, countryfolk, gentlefolk, grass roots, home folk, rabble, riffraff, ragtag, ragtag and bobtail
noun
Meaning 10
your parents
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he wrote to his folks every day
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: kin, kin group, kinship group, kindred, clan, tribe
History
Etymology
Coined by California historian Kevin Starr.
Across languages
Translations
4 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Finnish: porukat — immediate family, parents in particular
- Japanese: 両親 — immediate family, parents in particular
- Japanese: 親戚 — immediate family, parents in particular
- Japanese: 人々 — immediate family, parents in particular
Real reading context