dictionary definitions for "uncle sam"


From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Uncle \Un"cle\, n. [OE. uncle, OF. oncle, uncle, F. oncle, fr.
     L. avunculus a maternal uncle, dim. of avus a grandfather;
     akin to Lith. avynas uncle, Goth. aw? grandmother, Icel.
     [=a]i great grandfather.]
     1. The brother of one's father or mother; also applied to an
        aunt's husband; -- the correlative of aunt in sex, and of
        nephew and niece in relationship.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A pawnbroker. [Slang] --Thackeray.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. An eldery man; -- used chiefly as a kindly or familiar
        appellation, esp. (Southern U. S.) for a worthy old negro;
        as, "Uncle Remus." [Colloq.]
  
              Plain old uncle as he [Socrates] was, with his great
              ears, -- an immense talker.           --Emerson.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     My uncle, a pawnbroker. [Slang]
  
     Uncle Sam, a humorous appellation given to the United
        States Government. See Uncle Sam, in Dictionary of Noted
        Names in Fiction.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:

  Uncle Sam
      n 1: a personification of the United States government


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