docken

alternative dockan · alternative Docken

1. IrelandNorthern EnglandScotlandA dock (plant); Rumex obtusifolius or Rumex crispus.

   The leaves are accounted an antidote for the pricking of a stinging nettle. Children rub the sting with a docken leaf, repeating the words, "Nettle oot; docken in."

   1892, Oliver Heslop, Northumberland Words, Volume 1, English Dialect Society, page 240

   1 more example

   "But the docken, man," said I— "fusionless as a docken—how classic! what an exclamation to proceed from the mouth of a solemn Don!" "No gibes regarding the docken," promptly chimed in Bang; "it is a highly respectable vegetable, let me tell you, and useful on occasion, which is more."

   1834, Michael Scott, Tom Cringle's Log, Volume 1, Baudry's European Library, page 304

plural Dockens

1. A surname.