1
: a sovereign male ruler of a continental European duchy
2
: a nobleman of the highest hereditary rank
especially
: a member of the highest grade of the British peerage
Examples of duke in a Sentence
Noun
Put up your dukes and fight, you coward!
Recent Examples on the Web
Niha Masih, Washington Post, 4 July 2024
Built in the 17th century, the castle was once home to the dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
—Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2024
Chantelle Lee, TIME, 27 June 2024
Yet, this vision of pistol-toting gunslingers duking it out on muddy streets continues to haunt the city.
—Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for duke 
Noun
In the following centuries, the auction house says, the painting passed through multiple hands, including an English duke and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, and was looted from Vienna by Napoleon’s troops but returned to the city after his fall.
—Niha Masih, Washington Post, 4 July 2024
Built in the 17th century, the castle was once home to the dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
—Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2024
Verb
By Chantelle Lee June 27, 2024 7:17 PM EDT
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are slated to duke it out at the CNN debate on Thursday night, but there are still four other candidates vying for the presidential office in 2024.
—Chantelle Lee, TIME, 27 June 2024
Yet, this vision of pistol-toting gunslingers duking it out on muddy streets continues to haunt the city.
—Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for duke
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'duke.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near duke
Cite this Entry
“Duke.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/duke. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationBiographical Definition
Duke
biographical name
ˈdük 
ˈdyük
Benjamin Newton 1855–1929 and his brother James Buchanan 1856–1925 American tobacco industrialists
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