hammock
pronunciation
How to pronounce hammock in British English:
UK [ˈhæmək]
How to pronounce hammock in American English:
US [ˈhæmək]
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- Noun:
- a small natural hill
- a hanging bed of canvas or rope netting (usually suspended between two trees); swing easily
Word Origin
- hammock
- hammock: [16] Hammock is a product of early European explorations in the New World. When Spanish crews first sailed into the Caribbean, they encountered a word in the Taino language of the Arawakan people for a hanging bed suspended between two trees. They adopted it into Spanish as hamaca, which English borrowed as hamaca or ‘Englished’ as hammaker (hammock is a 17th-century alteration).
- hammock (n.)
- type of hanging bed, 1650s, alteration of hamack, hamaca (1550s), from Spanish hamaca, from Arawakan (Haiti) word apparently meaning "fish nets" (compare Yukuna hamaca, Taino amaca). The forms of the word in Dutch (hangmat) and German (Hangmatte) were altered by folk-etymology as if it meant "hang-mat."
Example
- 1. Set up a hammock , make lemonade , relax .
- 2. I spent much of my free time in a hammock practicing my watching skills .
- 3. I then returned to my hammock to watch my breath and my thoughts .
- 4. Your tree house is not completely rustic -- it comes complete with a veranda , hammock and toilet .
- 5. Or do you prefer reading in your hammock while enjoying the calmness , stability and safety of your backyard ?