Dock and doc are two words that are pronounced in the same manner but are spelled differently and have different meanings, which makes them homophones. We will examine the definitions fo the words dock and doc, where these terms came from and some examples of their use in sentences.
A dock is an area in a port that is used for loading or unloading ships, or where ships are moored for repair, or it is a platform where a small boat may be tied up, such as a sailboat on a lake. The term dock is also used to mean a platform where trains or trucks are loaded or unloaded. When functioning as a verb, dock may mean to secure a ship at a dock. Dock is also used as a verb to mean to deduct an amount of money from a sum of money, or points from a total of points when playing a game. Dock is also used to mean to bob an animal’s tail. Related words are docks, docked, docking. Less frequently, the word dock is used to mean the area in which a defendant sits in a court of law. It is also the name of a certain type of weed. The word dock is derived from the German word docke.
Doc may be an abbreviation of the word doctor. It is sometimes used as a nickname or it may be used affectionately when speaking to a medical doctor. When used as a nickname or as an abbreviation of the title Doctor, it is capitalized as in Doc. This use was first recorded in the mid-1800s. Doc is also an abbreviation used in computing for the word document.
Examples
Deputies were dispatched around 1:30 a.m. Oct. 7 to a boat at a public dock on Water Street in Yorktown, according to York-Poquoson Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Shelley Ward. (The Williamsburg Yorktown Daily)
Three Russian warships, including two anti-submarine vessels, docked in Manila on Friday to unload what navy officials said was weaponry and military vehicles donated to the Philippines as part of a new defense relationship. (Reuters)
Doc Holiday, Bat Masterson, Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley all stayed here, some longer than others by all accounts. (The Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise)