— uncleless , adj. — uncleship , n.
/ung"keuhl/ , n.
1. a brother of one's father or mother.
2. an aunt's husband.
3. a familiar title or term of address for any elderly man.
4. Slang. a pawnbroker.
5. ( cap. ) Informal. Uncle Sam.
6. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter U.
7. say or cry uncle , Informal. to concede defeat: They ganged up on him in the schoolyard and made him say uncle.
[ 1250-1300; ME uncle, OF oncle avunculus mother's brother, equiv. to av ( us ) mother's father + -unculus suffix extracted from dims. of n-stems (see HOMUNCULUS) ]