I nominate Chuck , which of the top of my head can serve as noun, verb, or adjective meaning:
-throw/discard
-vomit
-a grade of beef
-the part of a drill into which you insert a drillbit
-the sound made by chickens
-a light tap
-food
And I won’t go into compound words such as chuckwagon, or woodchuck.
Can you think of any more versatile commonly used name?
Smitty
July 10, 2007, 5:50pm
2
Bill
(From Dictionary.com )
a statement of money owed for goods or services supplied: He paid the hotel bill when he checked out.
a piece of paper money worth a specified amount: a ten-dollar bill.
Government. a form or draft of a proposed statute presented to a legislature, but not yet enacted or passed and made law.
bill of exchange.
a written or printed public notice or advertisement.
any written paper containing a statement of particulars: a bill of expenditures.
Law. a written statement, usually of complaint, presented to a court.
Slang. one hundred dollars: The job pays five bills a week.
playbill.
entertainment scheduled for presentation; program: a good bill at the movies.
Obsolete.
a. a promissory note.
b. a written and sealed document.
c. a written, formal petition.
–verb (used with object)
to charge for by bill; send a bill to: The store will bill me.
to enter (charges) in a bill; make a bill or list of: to bill goods.
to advertise by bill or public notice: A new actor was billed for this week.
to schedule on a program: The management billed the play for two weeks.
—Idiom
fill the bill, to fulfill the purpose or need well: As a sprightly situation comedy this show fills the bill.
And my own:
17. The beak of a bird
I don’t know if I can beat Chuck, but my IRL name comes close:
Ginger:
A girls name
A spice
A colour
An manner of behaving
A hair colour
As a visiting German student suggest - A good tasting root
I don’t think it beats “Bill,” but how about Frank?
1 : marked by free, forthright, and sincere expression <a frank reply>
2 a : unmistakably evident <frank materialism> b : clinically evident and unmistakable <frank pus>
1 a : to mark (a piece of mail) with an official signature or sign indicating the right of the sender to free mailing b : to mail free c : to affix to (mail) a stamp or a marking indicating the payment of postage
2 : to enable to pass or go freely or easily
1 a : the signature of the sender on a piece of franked mail serving in place of a postage stamp b : a mark or stamp on a piece of mail indicating postage paid c : a franked envelope
2 : the privilege of sending mail free of charge
1 : frankfurter
“Bob” is probably right up there, too.
How about Jack?
From Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions
n.
often Jack Informal. A man; a fellow.
One who does odd or heavy jobs; a laborer.
One who works in a specified manual trade. Often used in combination: a lumberjack; a steeplejack.
Jack A sailor; a tar.
(Abbr. J) Games. A playing card showing the figure of a servant or soldier and ranking below a queen. Also called knave.
Games.
jacks (used with a sing. or pl. verb) A game played with a set of small six-pointed metal pieces and a small ball, the object being to pick up the pieces in various combinations.
One of the metal pieces so used.
Sports. A pin used in some games of bowling.
A usually portable device for raising heavy objects by means of force applied with a lever, screw, or hydraulic press.
A wooden wedge for cleaving rock.
A device used for turning a spit.
Nautical.
A support or brace, especially the iron crosstree on a topgallant masthead.
A small flag flown at the bow of a ship, usually to indicate nationality.
The male of certain animals, especially the ass.
Any of several food and game fishes of the family Carangidae, found in tropical and temperate seas.
A jackrabbit.
A socket that accepts a plug at one end and attaches to electric circuitry at the other.
Slang. Money.
Applejack.
Slang. A small or worthless amount: You don’t know jack about that.
v., jacked, jack·ing, jacks.
v.tr.
To hunt or fish for with a jacklight: hunters illegally jacking deer.
To move or hoist by or as if by using a jack: jacked the rear of the car to replace the tire.
To raise (something) to a higher level, as in cost: “Foreign producers jacked up the price on some steels by over 100%” (Forbes).
Baseball. To hit (a pitched ball) hard, especially for a home run.
v.intr.
To hunt or fish for quarry by using a jacklight.
phrasal verb:
jack off Vulgar Slang.
To masturbate.
[From the name Jack, from Middle English Jakke, possibly from Old French Jacques, from Late Latin Iacōbus. See Jacob. N., sense 15, short for JACK SHIT.]
jacker jack’er n.
Wow!
Apparently I don’t know jack anout names!
tdn
July 10, 2007, 7:53pm
7
That would be cluck.
But chuck is an archaic term for a buddy. “Good show, old chuck.”
Sapo
July 10, 2007, 7:56pm
8
Chuck Hurley is one unfortunate name to have.
Mbossa
July 10, 2007, 8:07pm
9
The OED gives 464 definitions of set , which is more than any other word. It’s just a shame that nobody called their kids Set. I blame that serpent god in the Conan universe. He ruined the name for everyone.
tdn:
That would be cluck.
I’m pretty certain I’ve heard chuck as a less-common synonym for cluck, as well as used to “call” chickens when feeding them.
Can we include homonyms to the name? If so, then “Matt.”
DrDeth
July 10, 2007, 8:32pm
12
“Bob” might place, but likely not win. I think Smitty or Zoggie have the top contenders.
I thought I had a Pat answer to this, but I’m wrong by a factor of two. You can Bill me for it.
Smitty:
Government. a form or draft of a proposed statute presented to a legislature, but not yet enacted or passed and made law.
This annoys me because my party’s critic for LGBT rights is named Bill, so I have to constantly fish for circumlocutions to avoid saying “Bill’s bill” (e.g. “the draft legislation proposed by Mr. Siksay”).
If homophones are allowed then I think Rose wins
IIRC rose/roes/rows is the homophone with the greatest number of meanings