Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To signal or summon, as by nodding or waving.
- v. To attract because of an inviting or enticing appearance: "a lovely, sunny country that seemed to beckon them on to the Emerald City” ( L. Frank Baum).
- v. To make a signaling or summoning gesture.
- v. To be inviting or enticing.
- n. A gesture of summons.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make a significant gesture with the head or hand, intended as a hint or an intimation, especially of a desire for approach or departure, or for silence.
- To make a significant sign to; summon or direct by making signs.
- n. A significant gesture: as, “at the first beckon,” Boling-broke, Parties.
Wiktionary
- v. To wave and/or to nod to somebody with the intention to make the person come closer.
- n. A sign made without words; a beck.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To make a significant sign to; hence, to summon, as by a motion of the hand.
- n. A sign made without words; a beck.
WordNet 3.0
- v. signal with the hands or nod
- v. summon with a wave, nod, or some other gesture
- v. appear inviting
Etymologies
- Middle English bekenen, from Old English bīecnan, bēcnan; see bhā-1 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“These beckon from the autumn window seat of our childhood, and outside a cheerful cataract and swift descending stream froths between large, round rocks calling.”
“The Tibetan scarves that dance and beckon from the tables of street vendors are orange.”
“We all know that one won't disappear into the frozen landscape of her faraway Arctic state — not when book deals, party leadership and media stardom beckon from the Lower 48.”
“The signs in English beckon upscale customers to collections of carpets, clothes and jewelry sold by candidates for the chamber of commerce.”
“Special rewards and titles beckon for victorious guilds.”
“But regardless of that fact, these are the PS3 exclusives whose siren calls beckon me to my doom:”
GameSpot's News, Screenshots, Movies, Reviews, Previews, Downloads, and Features
“These little companies sat upon the ground, not advancing towards us, but inviting us to them, by a kind of beckon, moving one hand towards the breast.”
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13
“A number of high-profile vacancies—including the top jobs at NPR and Time Inc.—could beckon as well, though Time Inc. is highly unlikely to pursue her, a person familiar with its thinking said.”
“The beaches of San Blas are extravagantly beautiful and beckon the adventurer with several palm lined pristine secluded beache ... read more beaches exploring-tourism”
“Better opportunities beckon in the U.S., strategists say.”
The Wall Street Journal: All Clear in Europe Now? Don't Bet on It
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘beckon’.
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Not edible
Things that sound edible but are not (usually). See Liberty's To Eat, or Not to Eat? for more diet food.
cinnabar, dulcimer, belfries, potto, maltha, grapple, loam, rake, tort, pomade, buffalo chip, wedgie and 172 more...
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Come right this way!
Words that draw us toward an object or destination.
lure, tempt, suck in, summon, seduce, pull, persuade, inveigle, fascinate, entrap, enchant, draw and 12 more...
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September Words-11337
During the month of September, post at least 10 new words to this list. Make sure you cite where you read the word (book/author/pg) and quote the context/sentence where you found it. If someone has...
flabbergasted, discombobulated, inclination, serendipity, savvy, profound, incarnation, myriad, confiscate, audacity, deciduous, adieu and 79 more...
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cindywrites's Words
chiaroscuro, mollycoddle, feckless, evocative, provocative, invocation, beckon, allay, becalm, console, lull, soothe and 479 more...
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strangelyrouge's Words
glockenspiel, gewgaw, jetsam, flotsam, gripe, grab, wench, whilst, betwixt, hither, thither, yonder and 1034 more...
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(more or less) Temporary Urth List
Temporary list is temporary.
Collecting a few words here, which are then to be alloted to other lists.vassal, gnaw, putrescence, liege, pederasty, disseminate, loot, waning, fitful, hiatuse, plow, pious and 292 more...
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kat's words
ecumenical, cacophony, clatter, marimba, bamboo, saffron, slice, mercurial, pomegranate, cranky, slipshod, scritch and 511 more...
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Quaintnesses
For those who wish no words were ever forgotten
opprobrium, tedium, encomium, odium, ire, enmity, beguile, wile, brazen, popinjay, squit, hoity-toity and 1161 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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amy's GRE 2012
gimmicks, kowtow, unpretentious, skeptical, cynical, somber, prevaricate, equivocate, requisite, embellish, impregnable, procrastinate and 307 more...
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As soon as I finish this chapter
x
procrastination, drily, rheumatism, rheum, suint, tiresome, wearisome, tiring, suboptimal, subpar, subprime, grange and 190 more...
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GRE
libelous, ludic, opinionated, quaint, confluence, despotism, felicitous, concoct, debrief, beckon, cunning, brazen and 24 more...
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verbs
deprecate, behold, bemoan, circumscribe, circumspect, pivot, discombobulate, rummage, chasten, chastise, undulate, snog and 122 more...
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Words of the Day
glabella, chirotony, nook-shotten, crapehanger, filemot, swirlie, egosurf, lexiphanicism, Ruritanian, stichometry, chrononaut, faldstool and 2008 more...
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Amusing words
interesting words
bonce, furcate, tapioca, tillage, desalinate, garish, litmus, roadhog, azoic, haberdasher, imbroglio, polliwog and 802 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (B)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
balcony, bailey, baguette, bairn, balalaika, baldric, balefire, baby's breath, ballet, balm of gilead, balsam, baluster and 188 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for beckon.
Alexis Perez to motion or call someone/ the teacher beckoned the student to her desk (Newbury House Dictionary) Sep 25, 2010