derrick means A male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Derek. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.
Why this word is great
DERRICK — [Noun] A tall framework or crane, especially over an oil well, used for supporting drilling machinery or for lifting heavy loads. Named after Thomas Derrick (died c. 1608), a noted English executioner at Tyburn, whose name became synonymous with the gallows and later, by extension, to the lifting apparatus it resembled. Unlike 'crane' (a general, mobile machine for hoisting) or 'gallows' (a structure devoted solely to execution), a derrick is a fixed, industrial spire, its grim inheritance sublimated into productive toil. It is the iron geometry staked into the prairie, the rhythmic nod of the pump-jack, and the stark silhouette against a gale—the architecture of extraction, born from the shadow of the noose.
name
- A male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Derek.
- A surname.
noun
- A device that is used for lifting and moving large objects.“They count their ships full tale— / Their corn and oil and wine, / Derrick and loom and bale, / And rampart’s gun-flecked line; / City by City they hail: / “Hast aught to match with mine?””
- A framework that is constructed over a mine or oil well for the purpose of boring or lowering pipes.
- An executioner responsible for hanging convicts; a hangman.
verb
- To hoist with, or as if with, a derrick.
- To remove (a pitcher).“Stinky, who had batted a bit over .200 with scant power (two home runs in 66 games in 1933), was being derricked by Navin.”