deck

Etymology 1

From Middle English dekke, borrowed from Middle Dutch dec (“roof, covering”), from Middle Dutch decken, from Old Dutch thecken, from Proto-West Germanic *þakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *þakjaną. Formed the same: German Decke (“covering, blanket”). Doublet of thatch and thack.

noun

1. Any raised flat surface that can be walked on: a balcony; a porch; a raised patio; a flat rooftop.
2. (nautical) The floorlike covering of the horizontal sections, or compartments, of a ship. Small vessels have only one deck; larger ships have two or three decks.
   to swab the deck
3. (aviation) A main aeroplane surface, especially of a biplane or multiplane.
4. (card games) A pack or set of playing cards.
5. (card games, by extension) A set of cards owned by each individual player and from which they draw when playing.
6. (journalism) A headline consisting of one or more actual lines of text.
   If there's a strapline or subdeck, write these after the main deck and don't use the same words. 2005, Richard Keeble, Print Journalism: A Critical Introduction, page 114
7. A set of slides for a presentation.
   Navigate to the location where your PowerPoint deck is stored and select it. 2011, David Kroenke, Donald Nilson, Office 365 in Business
8. (computing) A collection of cards (pages or forms) in WML (Wireless Markup Language).
9. (obsolete) A heap or store.
   A paper-blurrer, who on all occasions, / For all times, and all season, hath such trinkets / Ready in the deck 1655, Philip Massinger, The Guardian, act III, scene iii
10. (slang) A folded paper used for distributing illicit drugs.
    Defendant placed the decks in his pocket and, after driving out of the city, gave one to Shore. While still in the car, Shore snorted half of the deck. When they returned to defendant's home, defendant handed Shore a second deck of heroin. 2007, Reports of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of New Jersey, volume 188
11. (colloquial) The floor.
    We hit the deck as bullets began to fly.
    Williams fell to the deck. Following a lengthy check, he was replaced by Connor Roberts due to a suspected concussion - a scenario well explained by the stadium's staff over the PA system. 29 November 2022, Ian Mitchelmore, “Wales put out of World Cup misery by England as sobering tournament must signal changing of the guard”, in WalesOnline
12. (theater) The stage.
13. Short for tape deck.
    The general operating procedure for recording a tape is basically the same as for playing it. After you insert the tape in the deck, you fast forward it to the end and then completely rewind it. 1985, Byte, volume 10, page 111

verb

1. (uncommon) To furnish with a deck, as a vessel.
2. (informal) To knock someone to the floor, especially with a single punch.
   Wow, did you see her deck that guy who pinched her?
3. (card games) To cause a player to run out of cards to draw, usually making them lose the game.

Etymology 2

From Middle English dekken, from Middle Dutch dekken (“to cover”), from Old Dutch thecken, from Proto-West Germanic *þakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *þakjaną (“to roof; cover”).

verb

1. (transitive, sometimes with out) To dress (someone) up, to clothe with more than ordinary elegance.
2. (transitive, sometimes with out) To decorate (something).
   (now the dew with spangles decked the ground) 1700, John Dryden, transl., The Flower and the Leaf
3. (transitive) To cover; to overspread.