International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
BECK; BECKONbek, bek'-'-n (neuma): This word from neuo, "to nod," "beckon," "make a sign" by moving the head or eyes (Luke 5:7 John 13:24 Acts 21:40; Acts 24:10), occurs only in 2 Maccabees 8:18, "Almighty God who at a beck can cast down both them that come against us, and also all the world," the Revised Version (British and American), "able at a beck." So Shak, "troops of soldiers at their beck"; "nod" is now generally used.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
v.) To signal by nodding or gesturing.
2. (n.) A small brook.
3. (n.) A vat. See Back.
4. (v. i.) To nod, or make a sign with the head or hand.
5. (v. t.) To notify or call by a nod, or a motion of the head or hand; to intimate a command to.
6. (n.) A significant nod, or motion of the head or hand, esp. as a call or command.