truckle

truckle
\ \ [15] A truckle is a ‘small wooden wheel or caster’. The word was originally used for a ‘pulley’ (an application which has now largely died out), and it was borrowed from Anglo- Norman trocle. This in turn came via Latin trochleasystem of pulleys’ (source of English trochlea [17], an anatomical term for a ‘structure resembling a pulley’) from Greek trokhilíāpulley, system of pulleys, roller, etc’. Trucklebed was a term applied to a sort of low bed on casters that could be pushed under a larger bed when not in use, and the notion of sleeping in the truckle-bed, ‘beneath’ someone in the higher main bed, led in the 17th century to the use of truckle as a verb meaning ‘be subservient’.
\ \ Cf.TROCHLEA, TRUCK

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Truckle — Truc kle, v. i. [From truckle in truckle bed, in allusion to the fact that the truckle bed on which the pupil slept was rolled under the large bed of the master.] To yield or bend obsequiously to the will of another; to submit; to creep. Small,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • truckle — [truk′əl] n. [ME trocle < L trochlea, pulley, roller: see TROCHLEA] short for TRUCKLE BED vi. truckled, truckling [< TRUCKLE (BED): with reference to its low position] to be servile; cringe, submit, toady, etc.: usually with to …   English World dictionary

  • Truckle — Truc kle, n. [Dim. of truck a wheel; or from the kindred L. trochlea a block, sheaf containing one or more pulleys. See {Truck} a wheel.] A small wheel or caster. Hudibras. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Truckle — Truc kle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Truckled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Truckling}.] To roll or move upon truckles, or casters; to trundle. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • truckle — verb crawl, cringe, fawn, grovel, toady, yield to the wishes of others Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • truckle to — index pander Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • truckle — *fawn, toady, cringe, cower Analogous words: defer, succumb, bow, cave, *yield, submit: *follow, tag, trail, tail …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • truckle — [v] fawn apple polish*, be servile, bootlick*, brownnose*, butter up*, cajole, fall all over, fall on one’s knees*, flatter, grovel, honey up*, kiss one’s feet*, kiss up*, kowtow*, lay it on*, lick boots*, massage*, oil*, pay court*, play up to* …   New thesaurus

  • truckle — {{11}}truckle (n.) small wheel or roller, late 14c., from Anglo Fr. trocle, from L. trochlea a small wheel, sheaf of a pulley, from Gk. trokhileia a pulley, from trokhos wheel, from trekhein to run, from PIE root *dhregh to run (Cf. O.Ir. droch… …   Etymology dictionary

  • truckle — truckle1 truckler, n. trucklingly, adv. /truk euhl/, v.i., truckled, truckling. to submit or yield obsequiously or tamely (usually fol. by to): Don t truckle to unreasonable demands. [1605 15; special use of obs. truckle to sleep on a truckle bed …   Universalium

  • truckle — I. /ˈtrʌkəl / (say trukuhl) phrase (truckled, truckling) truckle to, to submit to or yield to obsequiously or tamely. {special use of obsolete truckle (verb) sleep on truckle bed} –truckler, noun II. /ˈtrʌkəl / (say trukuhl) noun 1. → pulley. 2.… …  

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